HELP: IS THIS SCAM?

Hello,
I have found a wonderful family living in Florida, USA. The emails they have written are nice, but I dont know if this is a scam?
Please help..

FIRST MAIL:

From: George Spooner <[email protected]>
Subject: Aupair Position Available in Florida, USA
To:
Date: Friday, 25 June, 2010, 6:45 PM

Dear Aupair,

We are the Spooner family, We recently moved into Florida,USA from Australia and are seeking the assistance on a reliable aupair to take care of Jackson and Madison while we are engaged in other activities. I have just secured a new job and also intend to do some self employed work and so does my wife, we would not be having much time with the kids which is why we seek a reliable Aupair to join us as part of our family. I am offering a reasonable sum for your salary weekly Contact us if you are still available for the position. We can then talk about your salary and also contract and we also are willing to assist you concerning your travel processing should you need a Visa.We are Baptist by religion but do not mind if you are religious or not. You have full accommodation and shelter during your stay. In your response, please indicate when you will like to join my family

My contact e-mail is [email protected]

Thank you.

Mr George


SECOND MAIL

Hi xxxx,

We,as the host parents require that you perform the following tasks in our home on a daily basis:

Looking after, feeding, bathing, and playing with the children.
Being home while the children sleep if a parent is not home.
Being home as necessary while children are absent from school due to illness, weather, or holidays.
Transporting children to and from school, appointments, lessons, outings, or errands.
Assisting with light housework in shared areas of the house.
Putting away the kids belongings (for example, toys, books, etc.)
Making the kids beds each day.
Doing some of the kids laundry, there's a washing machine available
Tidying the kids rooms.
Cleaning up after kids meals and snacks.
Keeping her/his own room tidy and doing her/his own laundry.

Regarding your Visa and Work permit, I will write an invitation letter on your behalf to the U.S embassy in your country and also file some vital documents along with it, To do this, I will need your Full name, Nationality, Date of Birth and also your Passport Number. Also I will refer you to a reliable travel agency that has assisted us in moving over to the USA to help with your visa processing.

You could send your photos, tell us about your family and also ask any questions if you would like to know any other additional information.

You will work 25-30 hours and you have weekend free. My phone number is 757-905-1778.

It is understandable that you cant cook

Hope to hear from you soon,

Spooner Family.

Also I will refer you to a reliable travel agency that has assisted us in moving over to the USA to help with your visa processing.

The writing suggests it in general, but this line confirms that it is definitely a scam. Travel agencies do not arrange visas! The scammer will put you in contact with the (fake) "travel agency" which will require fees to be sent for the visa processing.

These emails were written by Africans. Unfortunately, there is no job, only a scammer trying to steal your money.

Also note that this email address has been used in conjunction with another fake name and is already on a great aupair scammer list:

http://aupair-visa-usa.greataupair.com/public-forum.cfm/type/3/ID/6215

I can only confirm that it is a scam, and that there is no job and you will lose any money you pay out to this thief.

Interestingly I have found mention of the same telephone number here

http://www.villa4vacation.com/vacation- ... .aspx#tab3

This is advertised on a villa rental site and the phone is shown as having a different owner.

It's unusual that they don't explain why they are supplying a number from a different part of the country

Number billable as geographic number
Country or destination United States
City or exchange location Norfolk, VA
Original network provider* Ymax Communications Corp. - Va

I didn't really get into the whole phone number thing, but the number traces to Ymax Corp.

Here is information on Ymax:

YMAX Communications Corporation, a modern phone company ...and inventor of the magicJack™.

MagicJack is another technology that is abused by scammers. A scammer located in Africa can use magicjack to have an American phone number that will actually ring in Africa where he really is!

thank you very much for helping me..

The 1st line reads suspect to me to begin with:

We are the Spooner family, We recently moved into Florida,USA from Australia and are seeking the assistance on a reliable aupair to take care of Jackson and Madison while we are engaged in other activities.

Australia's economy in the present global economic climate is BOOMING compared to Americas. No sane person would relocate their WHOLE family at the moment to the USA from Oz. The other way perhaps!