Shimla, Jan. 20: From Norway to Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, swindlers are using the tsunami to make a quick buck.

In Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh, more than a dozen industrialists have allegedly been taken for a ride in the name of tsunami survivors.

The management of a glucose factory in the Bata Mandi area of Paonta, 180 km from here, alleged that it was duped on Tuesday by people who said they were collecting funds for survivors.

?They introduced themselves as volunteers from the Paonta gurdwara and said they have also collected money from other industrialists. We gave them Rs 25,000 and were told that the receipt will be issued the next day,? said Shyam Singh, the accounts manager of the factory.

When the management did not get the receipt the next day, it contacted the Paonta Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. But the committee denied collecting funds.

In neighbouring Uttaranchal, 19-year-old school dropout Umesh Sharma floated Ganapati Film Productions and organised a show earlier this month. The donors, including Dehra Dun mayor Manorama Sharma, were told that the proceeds would be used for the benefit of the tsunami-hit.

However, a Hyderabad-based TV channel that was supposedly organising the show denied any involvement, according to newspaper reports.

In Norway, families of people missing after the tsunami have been sent emails saying their relatives have turned up alive and well, thousands of miles away in Togo in West Africa, according to a Reuters report. The missing person just needs to be sent cash ? via an intermediary ? for a plane ticket to get home, said the emails.