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What's in a name? Just ask Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minuteman Project. Gilchrist said this week that he is frustrated that several organizations have set up Web sites that falsely imply they are affiliated with his group, a border-watch group that patrolled the U.S.-Mexico border last month for illegal immigrants.

Gilchrist, who lives in Oceanside, has posted a consumer-warning notice on his Web site. At least one group is using the Minuteman Project name to solicit money.

The advisory reads: "The Minuteman Project is located in Aliso Viejo, California and maintains only one web site address: www.minutemanproject.com. Several groups have adopted the term 'minuteman' in their names. They are not part of the Minuteman Project."

Gilchrist's organization came under the national media spotlight in April, when hundreds of project volunteers spent a month patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. They peered through binoculars and talked on hand-held radios as they observed illegal immigrants crossing the border. Then the volunteers called in the U.S. Border Patrol to apprehend them.

They successfully completed their mission of drawing national attention to their cause and have received praise for their work from some quarters, but have drawn scorn from advocacy groups that defend the human rights of illegal immigrants. Late last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ignited controversy when he praised the Minuteman Project's efforts in Arizona.

Gilchrist said this week that he wants to get the word out about the pilfering of his group's name.

"It's a warning to your audience to not get suckered into any organization calling itself the Minuteman Project," Gilchrist said.

A media consultant for the Minuteman Project said Wednesday that officials with her organization are particularly concerned about one Web site, called the Minuteman Relief fund, which is soliciting donations.

"They have Web site links to us, and they are in no way affiliated with us," said media consultant Connie Hair.

While the relief-fund Web site does not use the words Minuteman Project in its Web address, it carries several articles on Gilchrist's group. One of the articles begins:

"The Minuteman Project is a grassroots effort to bring Americans to the defense of their homeland, similar to the way the original Minutemen from Massachusetts (and other U.S. colonies) did in the late 1700s. Like them, we want to bring to this effort only what few personal possessions we can carry ... plus our heart, mind and spirit."

The Web site also says: "Contributions of any size, large or small, are very helpful and very appreciated."

Officials with www.minutemanrelieffund.org could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Other Web sites also are using the name Minuteman Project without Gilchrist's permission, Hair said. Two of them are parodies of the Minuteman Project.

One uses the same name as Gilchrist's Web site, but with a hyphen between the words minuteman and project.

The parody site www.minuteman-project.com Web site mocked the number of volunteers for the project, which was aiming to recruit about 1,000 people. And while organizers reported they had nearly hit their goal, with about 900 total volunteers, several media organizations questioned the figures. Some media outlets even reported that more reporters than volunteers showed up for the border watch.

The Web site stated that phone calls to the media had not been returned, but, "We are trying to answer them all because we realize that even though we never came close to having 1,000 volunteers, these media suckers still took the bait."

Gilchrist said earlier this week that he isn't surprised that people are attempting to exploit and demean his organization and its name.

But "my ego has become very calloused," Gilchrist said. "When I started this organization, I expected this kind of abuse. Therefore, I wasn't surprised."

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426 or wbennett@nctimes.com.