Is this a scam?

Hello I have received this message on my mail:
Dear Gloria

You can view our profile here: http://www.easyaupair.com/viewprofilefamily/48806/
We (a family working in the medical branch) are living in a new flat in the center of Oerlikon/Zurich 10 min by tram to the train station. Living with us (only yadults) you can study and practice every day english, german, french, italian or spanish. You can write to us and send CV with photos in any of these languages.

We need your living-in presence principally for helping cooking and cleaning. You have your own room (with WiFi) and bathroom. Your salary will be 800-1.000 euros first month; later it could be more.
Cleaning and cooking necessitates only a few hours per day. The rest of the day you learn languages either studying at home or going daily to language school; and you practice daily what you have learned with us.

If you enjoy beeing in contact with children, you can also do - after you have learnt basic german - babysitting in the families of our numerous friends; babysitting is paid in Zürich 15-20 euros/hour.
You are welcome for any period of 3-24 months. After improving english and learning german:
- you can start studies at Zürich university or at polytechnical school ETH (both have excellent rqnkings)
- or we will help you to find - if it is your wish to remain longterm in Switzerland - a stable job corresponding to your studies, interests and to the many languages you already know.
Some of our former aupairs participated actively in our hobbies and interests: Visiting art exhibitions and Music festivals in Switzerland or Europe. Going to concerts. Doing sports like cycling, jogging, swimming, skiing, etc.
YOU CAN START IMMEDIATELY OR IN THE NEXT WEEKS.
Amconti Campus
Oerlikon
Zürich
Switzerland

It sounds just too good to be true and I would like to know if it is a scam or not. Looking forward to your answers.

[AlanJones]

It is possibly not a scam in the same way as the normal au pair scams that we see - although that is a possibility, but we would need to see how they claim to be arranging your visa.

If you are not an EU national then it is more likely that this is an advert looking for illegal employees - the requirements for work permits in Switzerland are very strict and unless you are an EU national, the employer would have to show that it was impossible to employ someone from Switzerland or the EU, which is not going to happen for a nanny/housekeeper job. They will probably try and get you into the country using a tourist/student visa and then employ you illegally on a low wage.

Thank you for your answer. I am an EU citizen. These is the other mail he sent me:
We would like to give to a young lady like you the chance to mporve languages and after you have learned german oral and written well:
- to start working; with all the languages you knmow, you could work at th reception of a private clini or of a 4-5-star hotel
- to start studies in september 2015 at university or polytechnical school ETH (both are in all rankings in the best 5 in europe).
Conclusion:
- we need help immediately; you are definitively welcome if you can arrive NEXT WEEK by bus or plane; the price of the ticket will be reimbursed to you at the end of the first month together with the first salary. After buying the ticket in internet, send us - IN YOUR NEXT MAIL - the confirmation; so we know day and hour of your arrival
- If you decide not to come, give our profile to a friend interested to learn languages.
- if you have questions, phone 0041 78 761 3764
Amconti Campus
Seebacherstrasse 60
Zürich
Switzerland
PS: here you see the kitchen, your bathroom and your own room

Please post the original email address it was sent from. If you can look at the complete headers, please post them as well (removing your own email address). If you don't know how to find complete headers, please look at this article :
http://www.ip-adress.com/faq/view_email_header/

Also, how did they get your name and email address? Did you fill out a form somewhere? If so, where / what website?

note: after reading your 2nd post I wonder how likely it is that a real business in Switzerland uses a mobile phone to operate with....

Information on phone number range +41 78761XXXX
Number billable as mobile number
Country or destination Switzerland
City or exchange location
Original network provider* Orange Communications SA
*) Number portability has not been taken into account

Original email address: [email protected]
Your Reverse Email Report may include the following information:
Email IP: 74.125.29.26
Name: Get Report
Country:
Address:
ISP:
Full Background Report: Get Report
They found my contact info on easyaupair.

[AlanJones]

Thank you for your answer. I am an EU citizen.

In that case, you are eligible to work in Switzerland, for as long as they give you a contract. The job they are advertising is not an au pair job and would probably be classed as a housekeeping job, with any additional baby sitting you can get.

Even if the job is legitimate, you would be earning hardly any money - they don't say whether they are giving free accommodation and food or whether they will be paying your mandatory health insurance (which will possibly cost a few hundred Francs a month). If they aren't then most of the 1,000€ would be eaten up by that and the tax, social security and unemployment insurance contributions.

A line like this raises all the hairs on my neck like a scared cat!!!!
"the price of the ticket will be reimbursed to you at the end of the first month together with the first salary. After buying the ticket in internet, send us - IN YOUR NEXT MAIL - the confirmation; so we know day and hour of your arrival "

Also, I can't find anything about the business claimed in the footer of your email. However I did find a drug clinic listed at that address Click here for one
Click Here for the second listing

With them using a gmail address (untraceable), not their own domain, they are asking you to put upfront money out of your own pocket, use of an untraceable mobile phone (that # does not appear in any advertisements, either). And the fact that they can not be found in a Search by physical address, I would feel real safe in saying this is a scam.

Thank you very much for your help!

I happened to talk by phone to this person. His name is Angelo Conti, he lives in Zürich and he works as a medical consultant. He lives alone, his older son is a lawyer and his younger son is travelling around Asia.
Now, the most important issue is his conditions. He told me litteraly that what he expected from me was to "obey and be nice, nice, nice to me. You are an intelligent girl"

Basically, this man may be rich or not, but what he's looking for is a "companion" to help him make his loneliness more bearable, in return he would provide several conditions to make the staying appealing. That's why he always asks for pictures in his email, he was repeatedly insisting on me being a "good looking and smart girl".

Now you know why everything is so suspicious, he's not expecting a typical au pair.

Thank you Amy Alm for revealing Conti's name and his intentions. This person is trying to get a "companion" for years. Interesting how he is now hiding his name at first contact.

[AlanJones]

"companion"

I think the phrase you are looking for is "leben in Prostituierte" as that is what any girl who joins him is likely to be.

Sounds more like predatory behaviour than someone seeking to "make his loneliness more bearable".
The way he's quoted as wanting the girls to "obey and be nice" denotes someone who is trying to take advantage of someone in a more fragile situation (eg. needing to find a job) by offering them a job and money, but wanting in return that the girls act like a purchased commodity and do his bidding.

@AlanJones - It says below your amusing avatar that you're in Switzerland. Could this guy get into trouble for using the address of the Brot-Egge charitable organization? I'm sure the folks at the Stiftung Sozialwerke Pfarrer Ernst Sieber wouldn't be too happy about this.

In a more serious note, human trafficking frequently starts with "innocent job offers" like these. I do volunteer work at a local NGO and you wouldn't believe how many of the people that were caught in this nightmare tell stories of how it all started with a job offer to work on a restaurant, hotel, modelling, construction, etc.

That's why it is of the utmost importance to inform yourself about the legitimacy of the job offer you got.

Several EU countries have specialized departments within their Foreign Affairs structures (like government agencies, embassies or consulates) to aid their citizens who wish to work abroad. Depending on the country, these departments can provide you with anything from general how-tos to detailed and tailored help to citizens who are considering working or travelling to a given country.

You can, for example, contact your country's embassy or consulate in Switzerland or/and get information at the Swiss embassy or consulate closest to you and ask for information on how to proceed. You can also try to find out if your country has a government agency specifically devoted to aiding and advising citizens who work or want to work abroad.

Another useful resource for EU and EFTA citizens is EURES. Aside from all the information there, they also have advisers who can take a look at your case (even though that's not exactly what they're there for, many will help you out). All EU/EFTA countries will have their own EURES offices and a large number of advisers distributed all over the country. Calling the one closest to you and setting up an appointment is always a smart move. If nothing else, they can set you up to find a legitimate job in the desired country.

@AlanJones - It says below your amusing avatar that you're in Switzerland. Could this guy get into trouble for using the address of the Brot-Egge charitable organization? I'm sure the folks at the Stiftung Sozialwerke Pfarrer Ernst Sieber wouldn't be too happy about this.

I would also like to know about this. My first idea was that he may live in the same building but in a different étage.
While I was doing some research trying to know who he was, I found a matching for his name and postal code at a business website called moneyhouse.ch where you can find information like address, occupation, etc if you have a premium account, which I don't.
His address was related to this charitable organization as well andI would lile to know if it's possible and if it's not, what would the consequences be.

[AlanJones]

The address is an area of Zürich I'm not familiar with, and Google Maps wasn't very clear about which building it was. So it could be possible that he lives in an apartment on a different floor to the organisation, or it could be that he works for them and has just used his office address.

It seems that this person keep looking for naive a need persons, I received this message in a aupair website:

I am a medical doctor living in the center of Zurich/Switzerland. We spend summer months in our holiday residence in Barcelona/Spain. Your duty is cleaning and preparing very simple meals. You work about 4 hours every day. The rest of the time you can take lessons of foreign language(s) that you can practice daily with me. Your brutto salary is 950 euros (1.200 US) first month; later more. I speak enough spanish to understand everything; I speak very well english, french, german and italian.
After you have learned well one of the 3 languages (German/French/italian) spoken in Switzerland, your chances to find - with my help - a good job is good. In all the medical professions (doctors, dentists, nurse, midwife, physiotherapist, etc.) your chances will be excellent.

no social media, not even a picture on his whatsapp profile + 41786563865, just phone calls no video call like is usual for this kind of process. As far as I readed is not easy to get a position in Suiza, so this swich on my alarms!