Nanny/Babysitter Scam

I was was recently contacted by a "lady" named Sally Richardson via text message. She told me she had gotten my name from the care.com website and was moving to my area on January 3rd. Sent her my resume via email and received a long email back, explaining she was hard of hearing and could only communicate through email or text, that she had lost her husband and 14 month old in February, and that her surviving son is in a wheelchair. She even included a picture. Here is the email I received from [email protected]

Hello <removed MW>,
Thanks for your response.I live in phoenix but i am moving to your area on 3rd of January and i will need a Babysitter for my 6yrs old Son immediately between the hours of 8:30am to 1:30pm Monday`s through Friday`s. I hope you are available this hours but if you are not let me know your availability because i might still be needing your services on weekends and the time would be from 9am to 4pm Saturdays and Sundays only. I am willing to pay $15/hour and $18/hour on weekends I believe its a great pay and i`m paying that much because i want quality care for my son. I really need a honest and responsible caregiver for him. This could be a temporary/permanent job. It depends on what your schedule looks like and cooperation but i do like to be sure if you are available the first month.

I lost my husband and a 14months old baby in february. It was my late husband`s birthday and he decided to take the kids out while i was still at work. Jason happens to be the only survival from the accident but he currently uses a wheelchair. I have had terrible times in the last few months and this is one of the reasons i have decided to move to a new area because staying here brings back some sad memories. I am planning on getting him a powered wheelchair and have contacted a seller. I will let you know as soon as we finalize issues. I will like you to send me your complete name,address and cell phone number so i can include that to my payroll for the period. I also will like you to tell me a few things about yourself and your availability (weekdays or weekends). Here is a little about me. I am a single mother, I am 39 and i am hard of hearing and can communicate via writing, reading lips or text messaging. I attended phoenix School for the Deaf where i achieved my highest qualification. I have my own business (Self Employed). I attend the catholic. You will get to know more when we meet. Kindly include in your email your complete name,address and also your personal cell phone number so i can text you incase i need to pass an urgent information.
Thank You
She then included a picture of a woman and small child in a red wheelchair after doing some research online about the school she went to and car crashes during the month of February, I realized this is a scam and have not replied back.

Welcome Lanie123! Thanks for posting the information. This definitely reads like a scam. The person writing it sounds West African. Notice the grammar mistakes and sentence structure. Be really careful looking for a Caregivers position using the internet, it is one of the areas that the scammers target. Glad you caught the scam early before you became too invested.

The mention of buying a wheelchair in the first email made me suspect that the scam would involve that purchase. I found this summary of how the scam works: http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?p=1805329

WARNING TO CARE.COM USERS - CARE.COM WHEELCHAIR SCAM

This scam is still ongoing and has been going on for the past several years. The scammer obtains the babysitter's cell phone number through Care.com and reads the sitter's profile to find out more about them. The scammer then contacts the sitter and offers the opportunity for a full time babysitting job at a good pay. Claiming to be from out of state but moving to the sitter's area, deaf, and having a wheelchair bound daughter, the scammer requests the sitter's address to FedEx Express a (fake) check to the sitter for a wheelchair and first week's pay deposit. The sitter receives and deposits the check and it will typically clear next day. Now at this point it turns into a typical scam however the weeks of contact with the scammer and a cleared check could lead to a very clouded judgment on the part of the sitter and may lead to the babysitter actually following through with the requests. The sitter is asked to buy (5) $500 MoneyPak cards and give the numbers to the scammer.

She is indeed West African, by the way she writes; the reason she says she's deaf is that, if you talked with her on the phone, her accent would give her away. Deafinitely a scammer. (And probably a man playing a woman.)