by Chris Fuller
Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:05 am
Hello caritokiss,
I'm sorry to hear that you have been the target of a scammer - but well done for spotting that it is was fake and a swindle.
Please stop all contact with the fake family and with anyone else who they told you to write to; don't reply to their emails, and don't speak to them on the phone. If you completely ignore them now and refuse to communicate with them, the scammer will soon go away and will forget all about you. Scammers write to many many au pairs at the same time, and this scammer will want to focus on the people who are still writing and believing that the au pair offer is real.
If you have already transfered money on instruction of the scammer, he will have stolen it very quickly, and you will not be able to get it back. You can, of course, report this crime to your local police - but it is unlikely that the police can do anything more than make a report about it. Most au pair scammers are really living in Nigeria, and they use fake names and email accounts set up with false information, so it is usually impossible to even identify them, and impossible to get them arrested.
But, as Helen says above, please do post the emails you received from this scammer, and the email address/es used. This will be helpful for warning other au pairs about this scam, and protecting them from having their money stolen by this criminal.
