If you have been scammed, please post here and share your experience; it may help others avoid the same situation!
#257700 by hmellis58 Wed Jun 24, 2015 1:25 am
So last month I was contacted by someone who said their name was Mrs. Williams, who works for Human Resources (did not specify which company though, so that should have been a red flag for me but I disregarded it), saying that she got my number from Care.com, telling me that her friend is looking for a babysitter/housekeeper for her son. She gave an email to contact this woman in order to get more details about the position. I thought that this would be great, so I emailed this woman letting her know that I was interested. She responded back two days later, letting me know what the job would consist of. She explained to me that she was moving from Australia to my area, that she had a three year old son that I would be caring for and that she would be paying $500 weekly. She also told me that if I was truly interested in the position she would let her financial advisor know and have a check sent to in advance to secure my services, as well as extra money to pay for groceries and other supplies that would be needed for when they arrived. I wrote back to her letting her know that had experience caring for a child of that age and younger and would be happy to care for her child. I also told her I would provide for her references. She never asked for any in the email that she sent back to me. Instead she asked for my name, age, gender, address, phone number, and my acceptance of the offer. Again this should have been a red flag for me, I mean despite the fact that there were many grammatical errors in her emails and her broken English, the fact that she didn't ask for references or even wait until she arrived in the states to sit down with me and interview me should have been enough to tell me that something was wrong! But I, not thinking much of it at the time, gave her all of the information. She replied back by telling me that a check was now on its way and then proceeding to tell me about how she had lived in Ohio then moved to Australia for school where she met her husband. A week later she told me that I was to tell her when the check arrived in order to get instructions as to what to do with that money. When I received the check I emailed her and got a reply that new information just surfaced regarding the property in which they were to move to. Apparently their water, phone, satellite, and power had all been disconnected, and I was to go to my bank and deposit the check that I had received which was for $2,850. Upon depositing this check I was also asked to make an instant withdrawal of the funds that would be available in that moment and then I was to use this money to pay the housing agent for the items the had been disconnected. This email did make me skeptical, but I thought that maybe they really did need help with this so replied back letting her know that I would take care of it. So I went to the bank and I gave the check to the clerk. She took the check turned around looked at it, then turned back around and asked me what exactly I was using this check for. So I told her everything. She then told that the check was fraud and that they would deposit the check and that they would have to keep the check. She then had another clerk come over to verify it and he as well told me that the check was fraud and that they were going to keep it. I felt so stupid and really embarrassed. When I got back home I told my mom what had just happened. We then went to the police department to report the crime. They told that if this person contacted me again I was not to reply at all. I also gave then the emails and the envelope that the check came. You see the envelop had an address from Houston Texas, while the check had an address from Nashville Tennessee, which again should told me that this was wrong but I overlooked this thinking that this person was genuine.
When I got home I received three emails, all of which went along the lines of "Are you still there", "Are you back yet", "Hello, are you back yet? there is update so urgent". The last email that received from this person was "Whats going on Why are you not getting back to me , do you wanna go away with my money?". I have not responded to this person nor will I.
At this point I am just pissed that someone would take advantage of another person like this. This is absolutely unacceptable and disgusting.
After doing some researching I saw that I wasn't the only one using Care.com and getting scammed. I even found very similar emails that matched the one that I received.
I wanted to let people know about what happened to me to ensure that this doesn't happen to anyone else or at least try to bring an awareness to those that use Care.com to get employment.
I was very very lucky that the bank noticed right away that the check was fraud. I realize that my actions were naïve and stupid, but I'm not the only one that this has happened to. This happens to many times, to too many people like myself. I hope that my story will help others.
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#257725 by vonpaso xlura Wed Jun 24, 2015 6:17 am
Please post the emails from the scammer with complete headers. Other potential victims are searching for the name, address, or phrases of the message. If you post them, they will recognize it as a scam before it's too late.

... ni los estafadores heredarán el reino de Dios. 1 Cor. 6:10
#271930 by Abbiraee Tue Oct 20, 2015 8:41 am
Thank you so, so, soooo much.
I just received the same exact situation, but for pet care. I am now at the level of the scam where he asked for my age, gender, address, acceptance of offer, etc.
So terribly disappointed. I could have really used this job. But thank you so much for saving me further heartbreak!

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