Babysitting scam, should I be worried about my safety?

Scammer continues to use same script,

New fake identity:
Alicia Thompson <[email protected]>

Initial script same story as above, complete with loss of husband/4 month old child and African English.

Below is the bogus offer:

Thanks for emailing back. Joe is just a temp, creative with no special needs and can go to the restroom by
himself, all he need is little exercise and someone to be a friend and a family. Here is my own address 25
Weaver Dr Massapequa, NY. We are moving in on 26th of February. The sitting could be in our place but if you
want Joe at your place, I wouldn't have any problem dropping him. You are free to do outdoors if you wish. I
suggest that we meet on Friday 27th before you start working on Saturday 28th. That way we can get to know
each other in person and share some interest about ourselves and the babysitting activities. As said in my
previous email, the last couple of months hasn't been good and i wouldn't want to get stocked with my son on
arrival so i'm willing to make a deposit to you ahead oftime to ensure a secure appointment to avoid
disappointment. The total cost of your pay per weekend is $252($18/hour x 7hours/day = $126/day x 2days). I
hopei can issue your first week deposit check with the below information.

"She" has changed "her" name to Grace Breaux; she is still using the same sob story of her son in a wheelchair. I also sent her a lot of my information, and it wasn't until the offer of sending my pay ahead of time did I get suspicious. The email she used is: [email protected] . This morning I got another text (which is how she initiated contact the first time) this time it is from Susan Lakin whose aunt needs babysitting care: Cristin Seeley using the email [email protected] . After reading this forum I tried calling the number she texted me from and my phone was unable to send the call which means that she is using a texting app. The numbers were: 585-412-4037 and 509-651-2679 they're New York and Washington numbers for Cristin and Grace respectively. I found this forum after getting the second text; I wanted to make sure that it wasn't another scam. I have searched both numbers and have marked them as unsafe on multiple websites. I am on care and am really frustrated with them for not having a place were people can post warnings about these kind of things. if someone knows of a way I could make a post on care to warn of this woman I would greatly appreciate any information. We're all just trying to find a job for goodness sakes.

Thought I'd contribute my tidbit to the cause. I'm an 18 year old girl looking for a summer nanny position when I get a text from a Nancy Hall:

Hi! My name is Nancy Hall, I am an hard hearing woman, we are moving to NC from PA, I will need a babysitter for my 6 years old son and an errands at your own convenience time which you will be highly paid for. Kindly make sure you send me your resume/reference to my email ([email protected]) from care, I can't text much right now because I'm a little bit busy I will check my computer to review your message, thanks!"

I later called the number, it's a texting only number.

I did email her.

"Hi Nancy,

My name is Removed (BW) and was hoping to be considered as your family babysitter. I have my own car and an excellent driving record so any pick ups, drop offs, or errands that need to be ran would be great. I'm excellent with animals so any pets you have wouldn't be a problem. I love kids and am great with them, I was a nanny for twin girls from newborn to well into their toddler years. I also was a sitter for a special needs girl, so I learned sign language while watching her. I can incorporate sign language into my time with your child if you would like!
I enjoy playing outside, reading and LOVE Disney movies. I can happily help with laundry, errands, and meal prep. My only concern is that I'm currently a student at Appalachian State University so I wouldn't be able to start until the week of May 10th and would have to leave in mid August. I'm looking for a job that could ideally last me through the summer and be a multiple day a week job. Please email me with any questions or concerns you have! Thank you for your rime and I hope you consider me for this position. "

to which she responded:

"Hi! My name is Nancy Hall and how is your day going? Thank you for responding to my text and I want to use the opportunity to email you, I live in PA, but I'm moving to your area on 15th of May. and I will need a babysitter for my 6yrs old Son immediately depend on what time you will be available for him and hrs if I'm okay by it and I will also need you for an errand to help my mom pay her bills, do some shopping for my mom and son and pay for the furniture for my new house as stated in my text. Please let me know if you also work on weekend and make sure you let me know if it will be convenience for you. More importantly, I am willing to pay you just try and get back to me and let me know how much you want for the childcare and the errand helper, which I will pay you separately and handsomely for the errand because I will need to get some thing fix before I move down, like the furniture bills, mom bills and some little stuff...(Mind you is just a flexible and simple errands, It does not affect your present job if you are not able to babysitter my son) I really need a honest and responsible person. This could be a temporary/permanent job. It depends on what your schedule looks like. I am moving to a new house that I need to fix some interior and get furniture and have contacted the furniture company because i don't know if you will like to stay in my house or you want my son to stay with you that really depend on what you want. 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. Here is a little about me: I am a single mother of 38 years old and hard of hearing. I have lived in Irving, Texas before. I attended Texas School for the Deaf because I am hard hearing, where I achieved my highest qualification. I am a stock brokers and i also a member of charity organization that produce for the Charity (Self Employed). I have never married. 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 cell phone number so i can text you in case i need to pass an urgent information.

NOTE: let me know your charges hourly or daily for the weekdays only and any other thing you think my son (Jason) will need so that I can make provision for it also if there is anything you need to get to take care of him, please do tell me so that we can make all necessary arrangements prior to our arrival date.I await to hear backfrom you and I will also want you to take few minutes of your time to answer the few questions below.

1)Can you drive?

2)Can you swim?

3) Do you smoke??

4)Do you have any criminal records? Doesn't really matters to me as long as you have learn from your past mistakes, I'm ready to give you a chance.

5)where are you located presently and what is the address of McDonald's close to you ?

6) Are you First Aid and CPR certified?? ( Its just an added Advantage..)

7) Total charges for the hours

Date Of Birth ?

Let me know which one you will love to do if you can not do the both but its a flexible job.

Thanks and God blessed you,
Nancy."

I was a little skeptical and I'm glad I was or else I never would have found this thread. This email is very similar to the ones posted on here.

Stay safe, guys.

She's back!!!! Her name is now Michelle david, Joe is still 6 and wheelchair bound from the accident that took his father and the baby. She claimed to be moving from Colorado to Minnesota. What a evil person, she knew I was pregnant, and had lost a child and she continued the scam. I hope some catches her, or karma kicks in!

thanks for the update, Nicnac. Is he ( she ) still using the same email address or did it change with the name change as well?

Just got scammed by a Colleen Morris ([email protected]).

I first received a text from her that basically said she'd seen my profile on care.com and would like for me to be her regular weekend babysitter. Told me the job paid $18/hr from 9 til 4, which was enticing enough for me to send her an email (which is what she told me to do at the end of the text). Three days later, I received this:

" Thanks for replying. My name is Colleen Morris. I'm from New York
and i presently live in Maryland with my son Mike but i`m moving to
your area on 2nd of July and i will need a nanny for him asap. His
name is Mike, he's 4 years old and the schedule time would be from 9
am to 4 pm Saturdays and Sundays only. This is a long term position
but its
fine to start temporary. Some weekdays are also flexible if you are
available but we may need to discuss that in person. I`m willing to
pay $18/hour. I believe its a great pay and i`m paying that much
because i want quality care for my Son. The start date is 4th of July

I lost my husband and a year 4 months old baby in January. It was
my late husband`s birthday and he decided to take the kids out while i
was still at work. Mike 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 because staying here brings back some sad memories. Kindly be
honest if you have experience with childcare because i want the best
care for Mike. I`m hard of hearing and can only communicate via
writing, reading lips or text messaging. I hope that isn't a problem?
I`m easy going and love to laugh. I can send you a picture of me and
Mike in my next email.

It will be nice to read about you. I want a nanny who is willing to
be a friend and family and also note that i have a few applicants for
this position but i made you our first choice so i wouldn't appreciate
a waste of time. Make sure you include your complete Name, Address
including Zip code and cell phone number in your next response so i
could check the map to read the distance between us also to have your
address on file.

You may ask questions in case you have any. I await your quick response.

Thank you!"

Knew something was off from the get go. Sent the message to my boyfriend for confirmation that something wasn't right and here I am. To all the babysitters out there who are starting to put up profiles on sites like sittercity and care.com, be really careful! Luckily nothing really bad can happen with only the information asked to provide, but I'd really hate for people to have their first experience on the site be really negative. If you feel like something's not right, definitely reread the message, and search passages of the sketchier parts of the message in Google to make sure it's not already recognized as a scam. Even if you do search passages to no avail, if there still seems to be something off, follow your gut instinct. There will be plenty of other legitimate job opportunities, I can guarantee you that. Don't give up hope, sitters and nannies!

She claims to be from New York but writes as if she were from Africa, and she's moving to "your area" without specifying where it is. She's a scammer. Thanks for posting!

Got this about three weeks ago. When I asked when she was coming she said couldn't until june because her husband was in the hospital. She also sent photos but they look like meth heads and her 3 year old looks about 6. She also said she was moving here for a "private research company" but I live in a small ass country town. I fell for this and gave her my info should I be worried?

How are you doing? I'm Cristin and my husband name is David,I asked my Aunt to help me seek a Babysitter. We are relocating to your neighborhood from New Zealand. I recently got a contract with a company on a private research job. However, We need someone that will help in running some few errands and babysitting.

Which area are you?

We need someone to work 3 days per week 4 hours per day and job includes to pick up of our baby from daycare a few blocks away,someone that is mature whether young or older, loves children, reliable and punctual. The Nanny will take care of a 3yr old boy for three days a week and will have to take baby home, give him a bath, dinner brush his hair, clean his lunch kit/bag, put back pack away school clothes away and monitor him with the best care possible. responsibilities for baby will be to look after him feed him meals, bath, keep him clean safe and of course change diapers regularly. My kid is my life so i entrust you to give him the best care..
I will be offering you $350 weekly, i will be needing your services for 4 hours at any suitable time of yours between Monday, Tuesdays, Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays. If you believe you are fit for this position in as much you will prove yourself to be a reliable and good person, I will instruct my financial to pay for the first week before our arrival so as to secure your service in advance.
I will be waiting to hear from you.

I fell for this and gave her my info should I be worried?

Hi and welcome waddupsam. To answer your question you would have to tell us exactly what "fell for this" means. In other words, what did you do?

Read this thread from page 1 and see if that answers your question(s) or not. If not please post a more specific question for us to answer.

I also received the same email. Her niece's number no longer was in use when I called it. I am looking to see if she is really a scam or not. I emailed her and told her that I will not be working for her until she sends me back the information I requested and I verify it.

[AlanJones]

It is a scam and any information provided to you will either be fake or stolen.

Stop wasting your time and just delete the emails and block them without responding.

Scammer has a new name and email address.

Name: Peggy Beatty
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (302) 635-5738 302-635-5738 3026355738

Email Text:

Hello [name],

Thanks so much for your response to my Caregiver Ad, well i am a single Mother of two, James and David, they are 4 and 1+ years respectively. I attended Texas School for the Deaf where i achieved my highest qualification. I have my own business (Self Employed). I am a catholic. We are in the process of relocating to your city. I am 39 and i am hearing impaired. I work based on the development and counseling of the deaf people in the community, i am moving to your city in few weeks and i really need a honest and responsible care for my kids. I will be needing your services between the hours of 8AM - 1PM or 4PM - 9PM, Monday - Friday. So let me know which of the hours works best for you.

More importantly, James is currently placed on a wheelchair due to an accident he had some months ago. He can walk a few distance though but the specialist advised he uses the chair for a while and i am planning on getting him a powered wheelchair and have contacted a seller. You will care for them starting (6TH OF JULY). I will appreciate if you can tell me a few things about yourself and maybe attach one or two pictures of you, below are your duties:

Cooking for the kids
Caring for the Kids
Cleaning the kids

This could be a temporary/permanent job. It depends on what your schedule looks like but i do like to be sure if you are available the first two weeks. I made some research on the wages for your service and i have decided to start with $400 per week and as time goes we can negotiate on a new pay as my kids get along with you. I want to inform you that i have a seminar i will be attending to as soon as i arrive and will be having an interview section with you immediately i arrive with my kids. Also i will like to include your pay to our payroll for the period just to have you booked down and secure for my kids. I will be needing the following information below to issue out the check to you and i need your direct mobile number so i can text you in case i need to pass an urgent information:

Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Phone #:

I have made some arrangements with the wheelchair seller, so as soon as you get the payment, you will deduct $400 for your first week payment and have the rest sent to the wheelchair seller for delivery as soon as the check clears, i hope my kids will have the best of time while they are in your care and i hope you will treat them right just like yours,The picture attached is a picture of me, James and David. Get back to me as i have a lot of issue to put in place prior to my arrival. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Thank you and God bless,
Peggy

I'm a total newb to this site so I don't know how to share the images that she sent to me, but they didn't show up in a google search by image search... The changing of this email address and phone number is really tricky... The grammatical errors, too good to be true wage, and offer of money up front had my spidey senses tingling. I found this site after searching for a single suspicious sentence from the email.

Scammer has a new name and email address.

Name: Peggy Beatty
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (302) 635-5738 302-635-5738 3026355738

I'm a total newb to this site so I don't know how to share the images that she sent to me, but they didn't show up in a google search by image search... The changing of this email address and phone number is really tricky... The grammatical errors, too good to be true wage, and offer of money up front had my spidey senses tingling. I found this site after searching for a single suspicious sentence from the email.

Thanks for posting the new email address, bink. And welcome to scamwarners.
You can look at the link at the bottom of my post to see how to insert pictures here in the forum ( using the /IMG tag).

You were very good at spotting the scam to start with, congrats on that.

(302) 635-5738
Chime Mobile in Hockessin, DE

NANCY STRIKES AGAIN

HER MESSAGE WAS
" I need childcare for my son jason who is 6 years old. I can only text because I am hard of hearing. We're moving to Inverness Fl. I got your number off of care.com in regards if you can babysit for my son and an errand at your own convince time? which you will be HIGHLY paid for send your resume and references to [email protected]. Thank you, Nancy"

can someone tell me why they are doing this? this is the second time a fake scam has tried to contact me. should i be worried? should i delete my care.com account? how do they even get my number?

First of all, wadddupsam, thanks for the newest email address of this scammer.

can someone tell me why they are doing this?

They do it because they can. Sorry the answer can't be more complex. If you were almost a victim once, then you are a target for some time to come. Your best friend is awareness, and Google ( or other search engine of your choice).

this is the second time a fake scam has tried to contact me. should i be worried?

no you really shouldn't worry, just remember Trust is earned, not given. And verify, verify, verify everything!!

should i delete my care.com account? how do they even get my number?

I can't speak for the website itself, so you will need to look into this on your own. Most sites like that have options for "how you wish to be contacted"..... One of those options is "through our website email only" ( or something similar).

The default setting is often "allow anyone ( or allow only prospective employers) to see my personal information".... Change the setting to "Use our website email only ( or however it is worded)", and the scam emails will likely stop. Also if you were almost a victim once prior, chances of it being the same scammer or another one in his gang of scammers is very high. therefore it might be the prior scammer passing your information around to other scammers. He will likely get a commission on a "Hit" if another scammer "hits" you as a target, just because he gave your information out. Or, he outright sold your information to another scammer / gang of scammers. Either / or is very likely.

If you gave the website your phone # as a method of communication, then I'd recommend deleting it and changing it to a brand new disposable email address ( such as hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo, etc). That way any emails you get from that site will go into your brand new email box, and you will know to approach all of them with apprehension.

Please let us know what the personal contact settings were and if you changed them. We all may get an education with the help of your experience