Craigslist scam uses LaGrange church

A north Georgia church is warning needy families they may have been duped by an online identity thief using the church's name.
         
"It's a pure scam," said Pastor Dr. Paul Baxter of the First Baptist Church on the Square in LaGrange.
         
A posting on Craigslist enticed low-income families from Atlanta to offer up their Social Security numbers to apply for gift cards. The posting said the cards would be given away by the church.
         
The pastor said the people behind the posting were only after the families' personal information, and that the church had nothing to do with the offer.
         
"There are far more needs than we can begin to meet, and then for people to prey upon those who are already struggling, often struggling, is just unconscionable," Baxter told Channel 2's Jim Strickland. 
         
Baxter has alerted police about the scam. Craigslist took down the post, but a portion of it lives on through Google.

WSBTV