MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- A woman scammed by a bogus advertisement on the Internet is fighting back after losing hundreds of dollars.

Elaine Acosta searched the Web for frequent flyer miles to use on an upcoming trip to Asia. Acosta told Local 10’s Terrell Forney the trip would normally cost about $2,000.

The New Jersey resident stumbled upon what she believed to be a deal -- an ad on Craigslist.com that offered 60,000 miles for only $600.

“I tried to PayPal and he wouldn't go through PayPal," Acosta said. "He convinced me to pay cash and I should have known from there. But I thought it was such a great deal."

Investigators said if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

In April, Acosta wired the money to a man named Thomas Pomare in Miami. Once the transaction cleared, Acosta said she never received the airline miles and Pomare did not return any phone calls or e-mails.

In the two months since Acosta lost the cash, she has made it a personal mission to warn others of her misfortune. Acosta and a group of friends printed dozens of fliers and boarded a flight from New Jersey to Miami. The fliers have Pomare's picture on them, along with the words "beware" and "criminal."

The group randomly posted the pictures throughout Miami Beach and handed out a number of them to people on the street.

"Hopefully he'll find them and maybe it will make him a little nervous," said Lauren Bahnatka, one of the women who is helping Acosta. "If you know him, beware!"

According to statistics from the FBI, Internet crimes defrauded people out of $240 million in the U.S. last year. Police said consumers should always use discretion and read the fine print on Web sites.

“A lot of these sites suggest that you pay with a credit card or a debit card so you'll have some sort of protection," said Detective Willie Moreno of the Miami Police Department. In Acosta's case, that would have meant using a PayPal account.

Pomare, who lives on the 32nd floor of a high-rise condo building overlooking Biscayne Bay, denied ever speaking with Acosta when Local 10 reached him by phone. He said that he recently lost his cell phone and received a new number, even though Local 10 reached him on the very same number listed on a police report filed in April.

When Pomare was questioned further about several inconsistencies in his story, the call was abruptly disconnected. Pomare apparently used his own e-mail address and cell phone to communicate with Acosta, unknowingly making it easier for the alleged victim to track down his picture.

Pomare has not been arrested or charged with any crime.