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Scam artist used photo of Abington couple's son in adoption fraud

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Uploaded by on Aug 1, 2009

The Enterprise of Brockton, Mass.,www.enterprisenews.com
Jessica Scarpati
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
ABINGTON Josh Brennan opened up his e-mail two weeks ago and turned pale. He called over his wife, Jenni.
It was about their baby.

A stranger sent the message to warn them: a con artist was using their 9-month-old sons photo in an online adoption scam.

The scam artist had taken a photo from the blog the Brennans created to post pictures of their two sons — Jacob, the baby, and Jackson, 3 — believing their audience was just family and friends who knew the Web address.

I never thought something like this would happen, said Jenni Brennan, 30, a social worker. Ive always heard about stuff like this happening. But I never thought it would enter our world.

The woman who initially contacted the Abington couple had a friend who was a victim of a similar adoption scam by the same perpetrators, Brennan said.

When this woman saw an ad on Craigslists London listings advertising a cute baby boy for adoption, she told Brennan the e-mail address of the poster matched the scammers.

For more you come back to us, the July 19 posting reads in broken English, inviting interested parties to send an e-mail for more information on the boy up for adoption.

The stranger forwarded Brennan the e-mail with Jacobs picture, advertising a 10-month-old boy from Canada who was awaiting adoption from an orphanage in Camaroon.

The immediate reaction is, well, what do I need to do? Is he not safe? said father Josh Brennan, 29.

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  • Thank you for sharing your story. It is awful that people try to prey on potential adoptive families. We are currently going through the adoption process, and are waiting to be selected by a (legitimate) woman who wants to place her baby with us. Check us out on Facebook: Denny and Kelly Adopt

    DennyandKelly 9 months ago

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