Generous people gathered in Portland, Ore., this weekend to help some Girl Scout troops recover from a costly cookie hoax.

The Oregonian (http://is.gd/bsWeVE) reports the Scouts were fooled by an order of 6,000 boxes that turned out to be fraudulent. But they didn't find out until after the cookies were ordered.

On Saturday, they sold 3,000 boxes and learned some tough business lessons and some good things about the kindness of their community.

The fraudulent order had been placed via e-mail, from an address belonging to an acquaintance of a troop leader. The e-mailer turned out to be a girl who used her mother's e-mail address to pull the prank.

Portland Girl Scouts will try to sell the remaining 3,000 or so boxes of cookies next Saturday, at the council headquarters. They're also selling online.