The Web is worldwide, and it's easy to set up offshore sites. Today, no state is going after solicitations on the Internet. Internet charities can pose problems for donors, too. It's sometimes hard to know where to turn. Public records, particularly for nonprofits that are too small to be required to report to the Internal Revenue Service, can be hard or impossible to find.
Some charities list no more than an e-mail address and a post office box to receive contributions.
Brief Web site mission statements raise questions that are hard to answer. But its address is a prim white stucco townhouse in a gated community south of the city. The church's founder moved away in February, according to the man who bought the townhouse from him. Repeated phone calls, e-mails and a letter from a reporter who'd contributed to the church drew no response. It's one of three increasingly popular ways to raise money for charity on the Internet.