Free Republic

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated how CAPE PAC sites are identified. Candidate sites are labeled as CAPE PAC sites in fine print at the top and bottom of each site. Noam Neusner, a former White House speechwriter for President George W. Bush, thought he had given $250 to GOP Senate candidate Josh Mandel. He hadn’t. Instead, Neusner was one of nearly 3,000 donors who stumbled onto a network of look-alike campaign websites that have netted more than $570,000 this year in what some are calling a sophisticated political phishing scheme. (UPDATE: Mystery PAC Look-Alike Websites Dissappear!) The...

Noam Neusner, a former White House speechwriter for President George W. Bush, thought he had given $250 to Ohio GOP Senate candidate Josh Mandel. He hadn't. Instead, Neusner was one of nearly 3,000 donors who stumbled onto a network of look-alike campaign websites that have netted more than $570,000 this year in what some are calling a sophisticated political phishing scheme. The websites have the trappings of official campaign pages: smiling candidate photos and videos, issue pages, and a large red "donate" button at the top. Except that proceeds from the shadow sites go not to the candidates pictured, but...