The e-mail, often from a G-mail account, has been showing up in response to people's legitimate ads posted on Craigslist, cyber crimes Detective Sgt. Ron Tidler said.
The e-mail includes an attached picture of a blond woman and says only things like "Hi" or "Good afternoon," Tidler said.
The messages are likely being sent from a bot that is mass-spamming ads on Craigslist, he said.
By replying to the message, users will give the spammers their e-mail addresses, which Craigslist masks as part of its service.
It is unclear whether the scammers are after the e-mail addresses alone or if they are actively seeking to con individuals who reply, Tidler said.
Anyone who receives such an e-mail should delete it without replying, he said. Users should also report Web fraud at the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
Anyone with questions about Internet scams can call Tidler at 786-2679.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.