(Aug. 3) - A Massachusetts mom was shocked when she received an e-mail saying a photo of her son was being used as part of an adoption scam.
Jenni Brennan investigated the claim and found a July 19 ad on Craigslist for a "cute" and "very healthy" baby boy. Although there was no picture on the ad page, when Brennan e-mailed the listed Yahoo address, the poster responded with a photo of her 7-month-old son, Jake.
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"It was horrifying," Brennan said of seeing the picture, which she discovered had been pulled from her family's public blog.
The e-mail claimed Jake was a Canadian-born child living in an orphanage in Cameroon. After further correspondence, Brennan alerted authorities to the scam when she was asked for $300 to start the adoption process.
According to NECN, the London-based ad is still active on Craigslist, but Yahoo has shut down the e-mail link. The Brennan family has also made their blog private and they advised others to do the same.
