Many of you have fallen victim, or known someone who has fallen victim, to the adoption scammer known on Facebook as Gabby Wabby. As her family members, we want to apologize for the pain she has caused, and we want you to know that according to law enforcement, there isn't too much we can do about the situation. However, we absolutely want everyone to know that we do not condone her actions whatsoever. We also want to make everyone aware of her tactics so no one else falls victim to her scam.
Gabby's Methods
As far as we can tell, Gabby begins by stealing photos of newborns and/or pregnant couples. If she's using Facebook, she will usually post on adoption groups saying that she has a "friend" or "family member" who is looking to place their child for adoption. She'll often post comments on individual posts in these groups to connect with her potential victims as easily as possible.
If she's using Facebook for her scam, she can be recognized by her username, Gabby Wabby, along with one of these recent profile pictures:
She will often say something along the lines of,
"My friend can't connect with you on social media. Is there another way she can contact you?"If she's using Instagram, she'll create a new account of a woman or couple looking to place their child for adoption. If you receive a follow request or message from someone with a new account and only a couple of pictures on their profile looking to place their child for adoption, there's a strong chance it's either Gabby or a similar scammer.
Once she has her victim connected off social media, she'll usually text with the number 770-727-6909 or 678-227-3527 as the "friend" or "family member" wanting to place their child. She'll send photos of the child or ultrasounds to prove that the child exists. These photos are stolen, either from a social media account or straight from Google Images.
As you get deeper into the adoption process, she'll become flaky, not answering calls or saying that she can't meet you for one reason or another. Eventually, she'll get to the point where (as far as we can tell) she just gets tired of the ruse, says she never had a baby to place for adoption, and laugh at all of the comments on social media about her scam.
What We Can All Do
As I mentioned before, we've spoken to law enforcement, and there isn't much we can do legally to get Gabby to stop. It's also nearly impossible to get her involuntarily committed. Her scam has already made international headlines. Yet, she refuses to stop. In fact, she seems to be enjoying the attention she gets. So the best we can do is make as many people aware of her scam so no one else gets hurt by her.
Please, share this blog with everyone you can, especially if you have friends who are trying to adopt a child. Please share in every adoption group you can, especially in the North Georgia area. We believe she is targeting people across the country, but she lives in North Georgia, so those are her closest potential victims.
If you are friends with Gabby on Facebook, make sure you aren't giving her access to photos of newborns or ultrasounds. She will try to use them for her scam.
We, Gabby's family, don't know why she's doing these things. We've talked to her, begged her to stop, tried to tell her how much she is hurting people (including her own family). But she simply won't listen. We don't think there's any financial gain. She simply enjoys hurting people.
If anyone has any ideas regarding legal options we may not have considered, please share them.
We are so sorry for the pain Gabby has caused. We are doing everything we can to stop her.
