20/20 – The Baby Scam – Woman Deceives Couple by Pretending to Be Pregnant

By: Grant Kirsh

Adoption scams seem to be becoming more prevelant. If you recall, in February of this year a woman by the name of Michelle Greenberg was also accused of scamming multiple prospective adoptive parents. In our adoption law practice (Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C.) we encounter these situations all of the time. It is sad to see prospective adoptive parents fall prey to these scams. The video below is from a story 20/20 just aired relating to an Illinois couple who were recently victimized in an adoption scam.

The one thing we hear often in these stories is that the prospective adoptive parents were not able to afford hiring a professional so they tried going the adoption road alone. In theory this may seem like a good idea, but to often it can lead to finding yourself in one of these unfortunate situations.

Here are the top 10 tell-tail signs of spotting a potential adoption scammer. The reasons on this list are not hard and fast rules, they are merely what we have found to be true in adoption scam situations we have uncovered:
Top 10 Tell-Tail Signs of Spotting a Potential Adoption Scammer

#10 – You find her online.

#9 – After making initial contact she quickly says she wants you to adopt her baby.

#8 – She makes a lot of excuses when it come to following through with promises.

#7 – She claims to live far away.

#6 – She does not have a phone number or she changes her phone number often.

#5 – She claims she cannot care for the baby because someone in her life has recently passed away.

#4 – She claims to be a lesbian and is trying to hide this from her partner.

#3 – She is only able to be reached via text (or email). She never (ore rarely) speaks to you over the phone.

#2 – She always needs more money.

#1 – She claims she is pregnant with twins.