Au Pair scammers are developing an increasing number of variations to the 'standard' scam above. These are some of the variations, but please bear in mind that there will be other unlisted variations too.
1.
The fake host family may direct you to:
- A travel agent or travel consultant
- A lawyer
- An immigration bureau, immigration office, or immigration expert
- The UK Home Office
- The UK Border Agency
- An employment agency or au pair agency
- An estate agent or estate caretaker
All the above will be fake, even if they have the same name as a genuine company, organisation, or Government department. The emails from these individuals or organisations will be written by the same scammer who is pretending to be the host family, or by one of his colleagues.
Sometimes the fake host family does not put you in contact with anyone else, but instead pretends that he is receiving advice from one of the above.
2.
The fake host family or the fake agent or organisation will ask you to transfer money/make a payment for:
- A visa
- A work permit
- A resident's permit
- Health insurance
- Travel insurance
- A National Insurance number
- A tax clearance certificate
- A contract of employment
- Proof/Confirmation of Sufficient Funds
- Flight tickets
- Delivery of documents
- Insurance for documents
- The opening of a bank account in the host's country
- The deposit for a rented apartment
All the above, even when backed up by document scans, are bogus and fake.
3.
The scammer may try to increase your confidence that he is genuine by:
- Pretending to be female
- Sending you stolen photographs, pretending that they are of his own house, cars, pets, and family
- Sending you a fake passport scan
- Sending you fake forms, a fake contract, and other fake documents, including certificates, flight tickets, and receipts from courier companies
- Sending you a real visa form
- Pretending to pay fees himself
- Pretending to make payments on your behalf
- Pretending to purchase your flight tickets
- Pretending to book a hotel room near the airport for you
- Creating a fake website
- Creating a fake Facebook profile
- Communicating with you by phone, Messenger, or Skype
- Having a female accomplice talk with you on the phone
- Bringing children to the phone to talk with you
He may also give you the email address of his previous au pair - who will tell you that it is a wonderful family, and who may also recommend the fake travel agency or other organisation. The 'previous au pair' is also fake, and the emails are really written by the scammer himself, or by one of his colleagues.
How to protect yourself against au pair scammers1. As soon as you start corresponding with a potential host family, google for their country's Embassy website in your own country, and find out how to become an au pair in the host family's country, and follow those instructions only.
2. Google the name of the country and the words 'au pair', and read about the country's rules and normal conditions for au pairs there. Pay particular attention to any requirements that you might need to fulfil, and also how much pocket money you can expect to receive. Be very suspicious about any family who suggests a different method of becoming an au pair, or offers you a lot more money than is usual for that country - this is typical of many scammers.
3. Google a few sentences from the email in which the host describes their family, to see whether they are original words, or typical sentences from scam mails. Be aware that some scammers
will write totally original emails. Genuine families, however, do
not copy-and-paste sentences or paragraphs from scam mails.
4. Google the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of the family, to see if you can verify them online, or discover that they have already been identified as scammers. Some genuine people will have no 'internet presence', and some scammers will not yet be publicized as scammers, so a lack of results is not 'proof' of anything; this is just
additional research.
5. Look out for telephone numbers which begin +4470 or +44070. Scammers sometimes try to disguise these by writing them like this:
+44 701 234 5678
+447 012345678
070 123 45 678
(0) 7 0123 456 78
All telephone numbers which begin +4470 or +44070, however well disguised, are not normal UK telephone numbers, but are 'redirect' numbers, redirecting all calls to a mobile phone elsewhere in the world. A scammer may make an excuse for using a redirect number, claiming that he is on a business trip. It is extremely unlikely, however, that even a travelling genuine family would use one of these numbers. Always assume that a +4470 or +44070 number is a sign that this is a scammer.
6. Never send money to a host family, nor to anyone who they have put you in contact with, nor to a courier company.
7. Never send money to yourself, or to a friend or relative, on the instruction of a host family, or anyone connected to them. Scammers can still steal this money, regardless of the receiver's name or receiver's country on the transfer form, if it is sent by Western Union or MoneyGram, and if they have the payment details.
8. Never open a new bank account on the instruction of a host family or anyone connected to them. This is another trick to steal your money.
9. Never send a deposit for an apartment to live in while you are an au pair. This is another scammers' trick.
10. If you are uncertain about any email you receive, please post it here:
Help! Is this is scam?'Make sure that your own details (name, email address) have been removed from the email before posting, and please be reassured that
if the family is discovered to be genuine, all information which could identify that family will then be removed from your post, to protect their privacy.
