March, 2008 Archives

6cc5077a85aa4cdf6bcf748bb6dc76e5-1-tnjpg-medium.jpgYesterday my wife told me about a news report she heard on the radio which indicated that an ad had been placed on Salt Lake City’s KUTV.com with the intent to sell a young 6 month old baby girl. I was curious, so I Googled the story, and pulled up a few of the reports. I became even more curious when I saw the cached version of the ad on Google, so I did some more digging. I did some reverse lookups on the number listed, searched for the name, and used some other tricky Google techniques I’ve learned along the way to dig up this ad containing THE VERY SAME IMAGE OF THE CHILD, though this ad is placed on a classified site in Indianapolis. Interestingly enough, the ads are placed only one day apart from each other, though the name Pauline Burgman, or "REV Pauline" isn’t used in the second ad.

I eventually found numerous ads that listed the same contact phone number, and different ads using the same phrasing. What does it all mean? Well, it looks like the same people that want you to help them smuggle Michael Nkomo, only son of Kenneth Nkomo out of Zimbabwe for an exchange of 20% of the $18.6Million that has been secretly stowed in two metal boxes are at it again, only this time they are trying to scam you out of your money in exchange for a child, or maybe a yorkshire terrier.

In addition to the 419 connection, I’ve found two other cases of babies being posted for adoption, though the details seem sketchy at best, and the fact that there are other ads with the exact same photos or names but differing details casts a shadow of doubt on the entire thing. See the first example here and here, and the second one here, here and here. Yikes!

Of course, nobody wants to take such a gross incident lightly, and hopefully this is not the case of a real attempt to sell a real child. However, given the evidence, it appears that the ad is nothing more than a dubious attempt to dupe some unsuspecting (if not dopey) parents out of some quick cash. I guess only time will tell…

SOURCES:
http://portland.localbased.com/misc/GoSearchItem.do?category=1
http://portland.localbased.com/misc/MiscItemDetail.do?itemId=334906
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:erx5WtsOCWQJ:buyit.kentucky.com/findit/farm_and_livestock/livestock/Oa6bd1f0.htm+206-202-2552&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us&client=safari
http://www.419scam.org/419-phone-cm.htm
http://www.freeadscity.com/24449.html
http://en.advisto.com/auctions-classifieds-sale/other-furniture-appliances-32929.htm
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:ZJzE7r0MMisJ:www.pluba.com/Classified/DisplayAd.asp%3Fid%3D11082+206-202-2552&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=16&gl=us&client=safari
http://www.sellingpet.com/cgi-bin/classifieds.cgi?session_key=&search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=3038&query=retrieval
http://thefreeclassifieds.net/cgi-bin/classified/classified.cgi?action=ViewAd&ID=1184891760&Lang=English
AND THESE BOTH HAVE SAME EMAIL ADDRESS: ttalk2me1@yahoo.com
http://www.pawsitesonline.com/search/i_puppiesbreed.php?entry=&title=Dog%20ads&breed=29
http://www.magickclassifieds.com/sweet_yorkie_puppy_for_adoption__a8998.html
http://united-kingdom.mercattel.com/html/ad/364816/baby-girl-for-adoption.html
http://classifieds.agriscape.com/ad/121367/en/
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:-wkgsggR6J8J:www.kutvclassifieds.com/misc/baby_children_items+Pauline+Burgman&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us&client=safari
http://indianapolis.nuvo.net/Childcare/beautiful_baby_girl_for_adoption_partyluv427_yahoo_com_/classifieds/ViewAd?oid=717353
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:TRHyvFn41TUJ:www.american-classifieds.net/adpage.php%3Fad%3D32737+Hi+there,+my+names+are+Williams+Finderson&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us&client=safari
http://www.adspoint.co.uk/ad.php?id=8781&cat_id=28
http://www.classifieds.abydir.com/adpage.php?ad=5768

Wow! What a great experience. I just finished post production on a few of the shots we got at our first labor and delivery shoot that wasn’t the birth of my own kids, and it was truly an exquisite experience. The emotion in the delivery room was beyond words. We at ADAIR are so thankful to Dave and Laurel who graciously hired us to capture this incredibly wonderful (and personal) moment in their married life together. We welcomed Lincoln, their first child, with much joy and even a few tears. Here are the photos we chose to send Dave and Laurel as a teaser. It’s crazy to think that these images represent the first seconds of little Lincoln’s life, moments that otherwise would have forever been forgotten, fleeting moments. Wow.

***CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO SEE IT LARGER

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