CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jamila Smith just wanted to sell her University area house.

"I listed my home three months ago. The initial intent was for sale," Smith said, sitting in her dining room. 

Then the economy slowed. The housing market tanked. And she changed her ad on Craigslist.org. 

"I decided to place it for rent," she said.

For $1,350 a month, Smith would rent her three bedroom home near Northlake Mall. Little did she know, she'd soon be tangled in a web of deceit and forced to try and defend her name.

Smith's story starts with a knock at the door. 

She said, "The police showed up with a young lady saying that she is here for some puppies."  That woman had come from Virginia, after wiring $500 via Western Union to someone who claimed they lived at Smith's Address.

"She was just really looking for answers and then the police didn't know what to do," said Smith. 

She had to convince the officer that she lived at the house, and that someone had used her address and committed fraud.

In the following days and weeks, Smith got more surprises, all tied to her original posting on Craigslist.org.

Just days after her visit from police, a young woman called Smith’s cell phone.

"She was like, 'I’ve been e-mailing you at this Yahoo address.' And I’m like, 'Sorry, I don't have this Yahoo e-mail address.' And she said, 'Well, I was like just calling to make sure that I had the right information before I sent the money,'" Smith recalled.

That caller thought she was about to rent Smith's house -- not for $1,350 a month but for $800. 

The woman had been dealing with a Pastor Jamila Smith who said he was doing church work in Nigeria. All the woman had to do was wire $500 to him and he’d send her the key. 

Smith remembers how upset she was.

"Because they set up an e-mail address, you know, and I’m just like they set up an e-mail address with my name. They are using my exact address. I don't know how many people they've scammed," she said.

She's now heard from at least five more people, and figured out as recently as this past weekend the suspect used the pictures and information directly from her Craigslist.org posting to create his own postings. 

"A lot of times they will be Christian missionaries they'll be posing as," said Trent Reynolds, who runs the website CraigsCrimeList.org. 

Reynolds collects stories from around the country of people trying to take advantage of Craigslist users.

"I print the names they use, the e-mail address. I just started printing the phone numbers," said Reynolds, who often updates his site daily, and says if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

The man claiming to be Pastor Jamila Smith gave a phone number. We called it, but were unable to get through. 

Smith contacted Craigslist, she says, without any luck.

"I actually e-mailed them and said these are fraudulent posts. Here is my post. Please remove it and I haven't heard anything,” said Smith.

NewsChannel 36 did hear something when we contacted Craigslist. We got an e-mail directly from Craigslist.org CEO Jim Buckmaster, who wrote, "Our heart goes out to the victims. We hate to hear that Craigslist has been misused to scam someone."

We sent Buckmaster the postings in question. He said that Craigslist will remove them all.

Jamila Smith still hasn't sold or rented her house, but says she'll be even more cautious before posting an ad online.