Jasmine Hummer - [email protected]

My partner and I contacted a prospective host family on the website greataupair.com. The contact was (supposedly) a female by the name of Jasmine Hummer. After a few private exchanges via e-mail, it became clear that this is a scam. We dragged things out a bit to get as much info as possible. It seemed interesting, that the communication with this scammer has been quite personalized, not the scripted, unsolicited sort of thing I have read about in most cases. I've summarized the information I gathered at the top and attached the full text of our exchanges below. I have [REMOVED] any personal information.

Names used:

Jasmine Hummer (Mother/Wife)
Jack Hummer (Father/Husband)
Joseph, Joanna, Gracey, Joslynn (Children)

Email addresses used:

[email protected] (Family's email)
[email protected] (Travel agent's email)

Originating IP addresses (taken from email headers):

173.245.80.10
41.206.11.21
41.139.98.212

Original contact (on greataupair.com):

Dear [REMOVED],

Thank you for contacting me, and now that you have contacted me, let me tell you little about my family.

I am really honored to have a couple being so much interested in my family. I guess i am about to become the luckiest woman in the world.

I read and understood your email very well, and i think you both would be a perfect match for my family and kids.

It is with a great and joyous heart that i welcome you to my home. This is a good family and very happy one. We are a very large family. Very inter connected with our extended families.

First, i want you to know that we are American family leaving in London,UK. I am Jasmine,33, married to my husband,36 Jack Hummer, whom i love so much. We have 4 wonderful kids,Joseph 10,Joanna 3, Gracey 4 and Joslynn 5. But you are really being employed to look after the litle three (3),Joanna 3, Gracey 4 and Joslynn 5

Aside my kids, my parents are also here with us. But your job is with the kids.

This is so great. My family is fine and we love to have fun, full time fun.

My children love having fun and they also like going to cinemas,they visit their grandpa during holidays and they are always full of life. They like meeting people and very easy to teach, that is they are very teachable. I am sure you will find in them as very close friends.

My husband Jack,is a real estate investor, he has some apartment rented out to tenants and hotels all California and in New York, United States, while i work at a local postal office here in London,United Kindom.

My husband usually travel to CA and NY in USA to monitor things and organize his company. Me and my hubby, we love going out to the beach, sometimes we go with the kids, and we as a family usually go to see movies as a unit. We often go to parks,zoos and site seeing as a family.

My home 230 Great Sutton Street, London, EC1V 0NB, UK

About my Kids....

Joseph,

Joe is a very lively boy, just turned 10 and he is always ready to meet new people, he likes having fun, just like his siblings,he loves strawberries, orange juices, pizza and Sea foods. He is into sports and the way he is going, i see him representing the USA at the Olympics in the very near future.

Joanna,

She is a very shy and quiet girl, always like being reserved and withdrawn. She is not having any medical disorders, its just how she has been from her birth. But this is her for you, and i am sure you will like and take her the way she is. I expect you to understand her person and study her rightly. I will be here to give you every support and help you will need in understanding her. She loves chocolates and Vanilla flavoured ice creams. That is not the reason for her person.

Gracey 4....

Gracey is a very clever and intelligent young chap. She is the very close resemblance of me, always eager to study new things,meeting new people, going places and she loves playing with her peers.

Joslynn 5

The eldest of my trio ladies. She is my realtime inspiration. She is so inteligent that i sometimes wonder whether she is really just 5. She is so matured in the mind that you will be blown off your feet. This is the kind of challenge you really love, right? I think you need to be here on time to learn all of these from the girls.

I am very sure you will find in us a very interesting home.

Please get back to me if you really feel you can cope with my 3 kids and you wish to leave with us here in LONDON. I will get you your duties and terms of employment when i do receive your reply,or anyway, shortly.

Please you can write me here using my email address: [email protected]

Love,

Jasmine

Following emails from scammer:

Hello [REMOVED],

Its all looking good at the moment.

As you may have known, please have it at the back of your mind that you are coming here to become the newest member of our family. Here we share love and understanding. And you therefore have nothing to worry about. Although the task ahead is much, but please note that we are not going to allow you work so much like that here. I will assist you in every little way i can and also you assist me in any little way you can.

I don't think i need to remind you of your duties since you are already used to them, but just for record purposes,
Your typical daily duties with my children include:
Waking them up, getting them ready for school,Driving them to and from school/activities, that is if you know how to drive and have a driving license,cooking simple meals for the family, putting toys away.

Typical daily household duties may be:
washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen,tidying, dusting and vacuuming the house,organising things,laundry and/or ironing.

Other possible duties may be:
grocery shopping,running other errands.

I am quite sure that these are not very difficult tasks for you. We will do all that we can to see that we also help and assist you in every way we can to ensure that you enjoy your stay in our home. We already have a room reserved for you, and it is well furnished with internet and telephone. So you will always be in contact with your family whom you have left behind to come and join us.
Your room is ensuite, that is it has its own toilet and bath,TV etc.

YOUR OFF DAYS
You also have 2 days off weekly. That is on the weekends. You are therefore free from work on Saturdays and Sundays. You can use those days for yourself in which ever aspect,visit friends if you have any, go places,see the city and have fun.

JOB AGREEMENT
I want you to work for me for a minimum of 12 months, and maybe we can extend it if we are all happy with ourselves. And i will pay you £350GBP weekly for your services and then an extra £50GBP for transport allowance, totalling £400GBP per week.

This means in a month i will pay you each £1600GBP = £1600GBP x 2 = £3200GBP Monthly. Please note that you can be paid is Euro or USD if you so desire.

Please i want you to also note that i am not paying you this huge amount just because i have enough money to throw away or throw around, i am just doing this because i know it is to serve as a stimulant and good reward for the good work you are about to do and will continue to impact on my kids. You deserve the best, just as my kids also deserve the best nanny/aupair.

STARTING DATE:

I will like you to start in the last week of June,2011, maybe on the 27th or 30th of June. Is this date okay for you?

Please let me know if you agree with all that i have said above.

YOUR UK VISA AND WORK PERMIT:
How about EU/UK/SCHENGEN visa and work permit? do you have them? If you don't, please do not worry, as i will make sure everything is done and ready for you to get here on time.


Thank you

Jasmine.

Another:

[REMOVED],

Thank you so much for accepting my offer. Please don't feel that way, it is I who should be grateful to you both, it is I who should be honored to have wonderful people like you to come look after my kids. I really appreciate your love for us. Thank you.

I am a woman whose words are her bond, i mean everything i wrote to you and i think you have to take it with full confidence.
Oh dear, there is no problem at all, i can be very flexible, like i said in my previous mail, your happiness is very very important to me. And this includes you doing things that satisfy you. Therefore, i will allow you to attend [REMOVED], and then come over on the first week of July,after you guys are worth waiting for.

Thanks so much for the love you got for me and my family. We really appreciate that, and i really hope to see you soon in
our home. Right now i think the most important thing for you and us is to get you all the papers and travel documents. I
was in talks with one of the few licensed agencies around here, and they clarified all the issues that had been bothering
me concerning your being able to get these documents.

The documents include:
UK Visa
UK work Permit,
UK Travel & Medical Insurance,
Your flight ticket reservation. (They have access to the cheapest and best flights around, so it would be nice to allow them get it for you both)


They agreed to get all the documents for you, but they are asking that you send them the following details as soon as
possible;

Your full name,
Sex,
Marital status,
Date of Birth,
Country of Origin,
Country of Residence,
Full residential address,
Last 4 digits of your SSN,
How long you wish to stay with your host family (in years,3,6 Months or 1,2 yrs),
Photo page of your Int'l Passport showing your passport number and Expiry date,
Date you wish to fly to London, and from which airport of choice,
Recent passport photograph of you,
Current employment status,
Name and address of your current employers if any.


Please send the above information to them here : [email protected]

You need to send it to them right now, so that they can get back to you and then start the processing of your papers on time.
After you send it to them, please do not forget to get back to me with whatever response they give to you.

Much love to you from us all,

Jasmine

Another:

My dear,

Sorry for my late reply. How are you today?
I am very happy for you. I am really glad to know that you have been able to send your information to them.

Yes, as for the skype chat, i have already arranged that we must have a skype chat 24 or 48 hours before you board your flight to London. You know it is necessary that you see us and we see you before you leave the United States for London,UK.
So i hope that the time would be really great for you and us. The kids would be around by then to see their new care givers.

Hope this goes down well with you

Love,

Jasmine

Finally:

Hello Dear,

How was your weekend? And how are you?

Please let me know what your plans are.I asked them, they said they are waiting to hear from you when you. They said you are yet to send your full information to them. So please dear, when do you intend sending the complete information to them, so that they can start work on your documents.....

Love

Jasmine

And the email from the travel agent:

Agent Au Pair Live-in Childcare
Affordable Live-In Child Care - Placing International Au Pairs with American Host Families
Worldwide placements including: Au pair placements in England Au pair placements in Ireland Au pair placements in the USA Au pair placements down under Au pair placements in Canada Au pair placements in Finland Au pair placements in France Au pair placements in Germany Au pair placements in the Netherlands Au pair placements in Italy Au pair placements in Suisse Au pair placements in Sweden Au pair placements in Spain Au pair placements in Norway Au pair placements in Dubai & Abu Dhabi
Agent Au Pair
Association of British Travel Agents International Air Transport AssociationABTA No. D0238PROTECTED ATOL 2748BannerBritish Au Pair Agencies Association logo

149, Sapfous str. 17675 Kallithea Athens Greece
693 Bannock Street. Denver, CO 80202,United States
043 Humber Avenue, London, W1A 2LQ, United Kingdom
Contact mail Address: [email protected]

Dear applicant(s) ([REMOVED]),

We are the approved Travel Agency for obtaining aupair documents for the Home Immigration Office in London, United Kingdom,Aupair J-1 Visa for the US department of state,USA and also to all European Union (EU) member states.

We have offices in Greece,London,and several outlets in USA.

As the Immigrant Officer in charge of intending Au pair affairs commission, we learnt from our client (Your host Family) that you intend to work in the UK and Europe as an Au pair.
We have secured visas and other relevant au pair documents for over 13358 au pairs in the last 5years to the UK and others from neighbouring European countries and now currently working in their various host families/host homes.

Please we therefore ask that you send us all the information your host family has given to you. We already sent them all the information we require from you, you are therefore expected to send in your complete information in order for us to begin work on your documents.


Jack Downing
Jack Downing

...................................................................................................................................................................................................
Agent Aupair Travel,London,UK, Athens, Greece.
International Air Transport AssociationABTA No. D0238PROTECTED ATOL 2748 Do you need any ?
Copyright ©2010 Agent Au Pair, Inc. All rights reserved. Agent aupair Travel Inc.
143, Sapfous str. 17675 Kallithea Athens Greece
693 Bannock Street. Denver, CO 80202,United States
043 Humber Avenue, London, W1A 2LQ, United Kingdom
Contact mail Address: [email protected]

Hello scam_artist, and welcome to ScamWarners.

Thank you for posting this information about this scam. As you probably know, the IP addresses of 41.206.11.21 and 41.139.98.212 prove that these emails were really sent from Nigeria. The first of the IP addresses - 173.245.80.10 - may show as 'USA' at some IP locator websites, but it is actually a proxy server, hiding the true location of the sender.

Au pair scammers usually send pre-written copy-and-pasted emails for the first two or three emails sent by the host family, and the first two emails sent by the fake agency/lawyer/estate caretaker. They may add a personal sentence at the beginning or end of these pre-written texts. After those emails, however, it is quite usual for the scammer to write original and personal emails, answering questions, or just chatting. Some scammers are well-educated and knowledgeable about the world, and can write very communicative emails. Others are not so good at writing their own mails, and write a minimum number of sentences, stay focused on the payment, and are reluctant to correspond about anything else.

Very occasionally, an au pair scammer may not send any pre-written emails at all, but write original letters right from the start. Most of them are usually also very willing to communicate by phone, or via a Messenger programme.

I'm glad that you recognised this as a scam, and also that you have posted this here to warn others about it. If you have not already done so, though, please stop contact with the scammer now - he is a criminal, and you don't want to knowingly continue writing to a criminal who has some of your personal information!