Baby's pic used in
adoption scam
Child's photo used in Craigslist
adoption scam
Updated: Monday, 03 Aug 2009, 5:46 PM EDT
Published : Sunday, 02 Aug 2009, 10:39 PM EDT
ABINGTON, Mass. - An Abington mother says she found a picture of her baby boy online in an advertisement saying the child was available for adoption.
The ad was posted on Craigslist saying: “A CUTE BABY BOY FOR ADOPTION HE IS VERY HEALTHY AND READY FOR ADOPTION FOR MORE YOU COME BACK TO US.”
( SEE THE AD )
Jenni Brennan was told by a stranger that a picture of Brennan’s 7-month-old Jake was used as the “boy for adoption” in the online scam.
So Brennan tried responding to the ad herself, and sure enough, an e-mail was sent to her using her son’s picture, describing him as a child born in Canada, but now living in an orphanage in the African nation of Cameroon.
The scammers didn’t bother to cover up their tracks either. Inside of the e-mail, Brennan could easily see that the photo was taken from her family blog.
“Our intent was just for family and friends to be able to know what’s going on in our lives,” she said.
“I know he wasn’t being physically harmed and no one was going to come to our door and try to take him, but I felt like his likeness was being violated,” she said.
Brennan contacted the FBI and the attorney general’s office. Yahoo! shut down the e-mail addresses used in the scam.
“I would think this is happening to a lot of people. They just don’t know it,” Brennan said.
Brennan also placed privacy settings on her blog.
Click here to read Fox News article
5 comments:
Wow, that is some scary stuff. Hmm... makes me wonder if I should privatize my blog. Although it's probably too late by now....
My dad actually already thought someone is probably stealing Charlie's pictures and using them for ads and stuff (like in small magazines, not Vogue or anything) and I thought that was being too paranoid. Hmm.
Can I borrow this for my blog if I link back to you?
A1S - sure. no problem. Scary, right?
Yikes indeed! You just confirmed my decision to password protect my blog posts when I am able to include pictures of Biset (which means switching to WordPress). Also, I will not be posting her pictures on Facebook.
It's scary and sad that something so beautoiful can turn ugly by evil poeple.
Blessings to all!
Sen
...and folks wonder why I have yet to post pictures on my blogspot!
That's the reality of the world we live in---insane!
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