Cybercriminals create counterfeit journal websites

Nature : Hundreds of researchers who thought they were submitting articles to two European science journals have been cheated out of their author fees by criminals who have created counterfeit websites. Neither of the authentic journalsâmdash;the Archives des Sciences, published by the Society of Physics and Natural History of Geneva, and Wulfenia, published by the Regional Museum of Carinthia in Klagenfurt, Austriaâmdash;has its own website. The counterfeiters are expert at deception: They have on their websites the journals’ impact factors, postal addresses, international standard serial numbers, and even editorial board listings that include real scientists. Daniel Gamelin, a chemist and materials scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, and Gerald Cleaver, a high-energy physicist at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, were surprised to learn that they were listed on one of the bogus websites as being on the editorial board of Archives des Sciences. Although the journals are trying to fight the scammers, efforts to shut them down have so far proved ineffective.