"Dr." John Nichols and Vero Construction Au Pair Scam

Hi! I want to share my experience at almost being scammed! A week ago I was contacted by a "Dr. John Nichols from the UK" looking for a nanny for his 2 kids. He sent 3 small pictures. I should have realized from the beginning that this was a scam and just now I read about his scam on the internet so beware. Here are the specific indicators of his scam:

1. He sent me an e-mail directly without a profile number from an au pair website and I cannot find
him in listed in any au pair/nanny site.
2. He is not interested in any info about me.
3. He referred me to a travel agency to arrange a flight ticket and work visa for which I am expected
to pay GBP 650 up front (TRAVELWITHUS INTERNATIONAL).
4. He does not answer all my questions and his English is not all that good for someone who claims to
be an Englishman.
5. He sent me a contract offering to pay GBP 450 weekly plus pocket money.
6. He has given me the name and phone number of his supposed employer whom I can call for personal
reference but I now know that the company isn't real either.

I received another offer to work for a Mike Cole in the UK - looked like a scam so I rejected him right off.
Good luck to all of us honest people looking for an honest family!

Hi Sheribeth

Could you please post the emails and email address here, it will go a long way to helping others avoid being scammed.

Please be sure to remove your own details first.

Something of relevance to all people who receive scam au pair job offers for the UK, and something I didn't know

Eligibility Criteria

In order to qualify for a UK Au Pair visa, you must be able to fulfil the following requirements:

* You must be aged between 17 and 27
* You must not be married
* You must not have any dependants
* You must not plan to stay in Britain for more than two years as an Au Pair
* You must be able to support and accommodate yourself without help from public funds
* You must plan to leave the country when you complete your stay as an Au Pair

Nationality

Only citizens of the following countries are eligible to apply

* Andorra
* Bosnia-Herzegovina
* Croatia
* Faroe Islands
* Greenland
* Macedonia
* Monaco
* San Marino
* Turkey

(N.B. Although members of the European Economic Area (EEA) are not included in the Au Pair Scheme, they are free to come to the United Kingdom in order to take Au Pair placements).

If you're not from one of the countries listed above you CAN'T get a visa a to work in the UK as an au pair.

https://secure.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/secure ... v/aupairs/

the "reasonable allowance" referred to in Paragraph 88 (c) should be up to £55 a week. Any sum significantly in excess of this might suggest that the person is filling the position of domestic servant, or similar, which would require a work permit.

Scammers like to promise you massive amounts of money to work as a nanny, but that is ridiculous as you already get free board and lodgings. It may sound more attractive to be offered lots of money, but that actually makes it certain that it's a scam, as any sum you are paid above £55 a week means the job is no longer classified as being an au pair.

Of course if you are a resident of a state within the EU you don't need a visa at all, and these rules don't apply at all.

If this isn't in the stickies (oops I haven't checked) it might be worth including it.

3. He referred me to a travel agency to arrange a flight ticket and work visa for which I am expected
to pay GBP 650 up front (TRAVELWITHUS INTERNATIONAL).
6. He has given me the name and phone number of his supposed employer whom I can call for personal
reference but I now know that the company isn't real either.

Hello there Sheribeth, welcome to Scamwarners.

As Ralph said, could you provide us the email adresses and mails you received from these persons? I am also very interested in the so-called employer and the travel agency. Did they direct you to a site? If so, that site is probably fake and we'll take a shot at getting them offline.

hi,

for everybody who is still believing 'DR. John Nichols' from London... HE IS A SCAMMER!! for sure.
Sadly it was my first experience with any au-pair jobs. Dr. Nichols send me a message which is EXACTLY the same as named down under. ( with the 'vero construction company' and everything!!)
I have been sending messages with them (because its a complete organization, i am very sure) back and forward. When I asked about the 650 pound I was supposed to pay, I thought the Agency was fake. When I send this 'Travelling Agency' an e-mail they replied to me with an e-mail which was full of spelling mistakes: i was sure it was fake. Still I didn't think anything suspicious about 'Dr. Nichols' himself. I told him that I didn't need any visa in England and that i would rather arrange the ticket myself, cause this would be a lot cheaper. He replied this afternoon and said the following:

Thanks for the mail..i understand that you do not need a Visa in the United Kingdom.
You are require to undergo a Compulsory Aupair Training Programme in the United Kingdom.and this training will be organise by the agency ..so i hope that you do understand ..


So suddenly the 650p I was supposed to pay for the visa and ticket, would be used for a aupair training programme?? wtf???????????
besides that I proposed to come to London for a weekend to meet him and his family... He never reacted on this proposal, how funny. . .


I am 18 years old and I really scared me that someone is trying to scam me for this amount of money! I want to send all of my thanks to this site because now I still got my money.
I hope with all my heart that nobody loses this much money on these coldblooded, heartless scammers.

p.s. @ the directors of this site; I have about 10 emails from 'DR nichols', if it helps you I can send them to you all. In the emails are several phone numbers and directions to different sites ( the so-called vero construction company and the site of the traveling agency). These bastards really scared me and I will do anything to help you to stop them!

Thanks!

Welcome here Mountish

Of course we would like to see more emails and phone numbers from this scammer. If possible could you post the full headers of the emails too? If you don't know how to get the headers, just ask.

This scammer also uses the name 'Dr Allen Nichols'. Click on the link below for more information about this scam:

Dr Allen Nichols