A Marketable Skill?

We all (hopefully) are aware of the many scams out there in 'Net-land; Nigerian princes, winning lottery tickets, lost wallets, phishing and pharming, and all the rest. But here's a new one - and one that is, IMO, the most dastardly of the lot.

It's actually not an Internet scam per se, but the 'Net is used to facilitate it, so it loosely falls under the Internet scam umbrella. Of course, such a distinction means little to those who have their lives ruined by it.

For sale on the Internet - the latest scam

Positive pregnancy tests can be found for sale all over the Internet ... and people are snapping them up - with less-than-ethical motivations...

One mother from Dallas did not want her identity revealed, but she does want people to buy her positive pregnancy tests. She talked about one woman who took her up on the offer.

"She wanted to trick him into thinking she was pregnant..."

Buying and selling others' pregnancy tests is the latest trend on the Internet. Those involved in the trade said the buyer's motive is often to trap a man...

"Ninety-five percent of the girls just want to lie to get a man," the seller said.

And the sellers know that.

One Craigslist ad posted last year by a central New Jersey woman read: "I am pregnant and will sell you a positive pregnancy test. These will be taken right before you're ready to pick them up. Wanna get your boyfriend to finally pop the question? Play a trick on mom, dad or one of your friends? I really don't care what you use it for."

Another ad from Buffalo promised no judgment at all. It read in part: "Ever since I became pregnant, I have been asked numerous times for a positive test, so I decided to start charging for it! I will test the same day you want to pick it up! I don't care what you use it for, not my business!"

Ethics and morality aside, relationship expert Dr. Jane Greer said having to use a phony test to get your partner to commit is clearly a bad sign for the future.

That's an understatement!

And still others may have more sinister plans. Authorities warned people to be careful how they use the purchased positive tests.

"For example, if a married man is having an affair and he tried to break it off with the girl, and she became upset and decided to present this fake pregnancy test and demand money, otherwise she would tell the spouse, that would be a level of blackmail," Overland Park, Kansas, police Officer Gary Mason told CBS affiliate KCTV-TV, Kansas City.

But mothers-to-be who sell the tests for as much as $30 each said it is just the latest commodity online.

"It's a neat, marketable skill..." the Dallas woman said.

Commodity? Marketable skill?!? How much skill does it take to get knocked up, and then pee on a stick?

It's been said that there is a market for everything. I guess this story proves that it's true.

It also proves how low some people will stoop to get what they want...