HELP!!! IS IT A SCAM??

When you view the message, there is a small downward pointing arrow on the right of the reply button on the right of the screen. Click on that and select "Show Original". Then copy and paste the top of the email here (less your email address etc).
I'm uneasy about it too, although there's nothing I can point to and say it's a scam. It might just be that we don't get real adverts posted here.

I wrote a mail to the friend (mrs harry) that gave her my apply, and she answer this:

"Hi Delphine

Yes Samantha Borland is my friend and she is looking for an aupair for this summer so when you wrote to me I suggested to her that she might contact you, I hope you don't mind. Sam has 3 daughters and lives in the same village so our familties are quite similar. She has had 2 aupairs before.

You are very wise to check. Scammers will ask for you to send them money in advance, I'm sure Sam will not ask for this.

best wishes - if it works out and you become her aupair, we will meet you one day!

Deborah" from this email <[email protected]>



Does that help?

Please can you confirm the name 'Deborah' used - was it 'Harris' (as in your earlier post) or 'Harry' (as above)?

The email from her is inconclusive (but suspicious) & her statement concerning scammers may be to make you less suspicious!

Personally, I believe that if you proceed with caution, do not send personal information (as mentioned earlier), certainly do not believe that you "have to use this agency for your work permit etc" - then it MIGHT be real!

If not, you will have a better knowledge of how scammers operate!

well i send it by PM because i am worry to cancel important things...

That's OK. The headers don't show the sender' IP though. Tiscali may be one of email providers who don't include the full headers. Does anyone know?

i send you our conversation on msn and the detailed mail she sent me...
this is deborah HARRY i am sorry, i made a mistake

Tell me...

The first IP number belongs to Tiscali UK, so there's no way of knowing the sender's country.

One thing that hasn't been asked, do you know Samantha from real life or is she just an online friend? If she is just an online friend, then be very cautious. If you know her in real life, she may be sincere in thinking this is legitimate even if it isn't. You are receiving some very sound advice here.

As a wise man (my father) used to say, "Hope for the best, plan for the worst".

no of course i don't know her in real life, because i am french and looking for a summer job as an au pair, but i am quite paranoid about these kind of things and i always ask others' opinion before accepting a job
Thank you!

It would be interesting to know where this person claims to live, and you would need to know this too, if the offer is genuine. It wouldn't prove anything, but at least it is then possible to confirm that the person at least knows the geography of the UK. The profile we have seen suggests that the person works in the Northampton area of the UK, which is not far from where I live, and I have driven by there recently. The person could live as far away as the outskirts of London, though I notice that they used the word 'village'. Though that word has a specific meaning, it isn't unusual for people to say they live in a village when they don't. There are almost rules about how far a person can misuse the word. If someone said that they lived in Fulham, then that is outside the rules of being able to call it a village, and it isn't a feasible commute to Northampton.

You could ask how quiet it is as she called it a 'village', where it is and if there are amenities close by. You need to know this anyway and it is not unreasonable. For the future it would be sensible for you to make a list of things you need to know. A lot of scammers are lazy and will give up if you ask too many questions, ones that would be easy for a genuine person to answer. The fact that they are wasting your time and effort is stopping you from looking for genuine offers.

Where do you live ?
Names and ages of children ?
Where do they go to school ?
How much you will be paid
Your hours of work and responsibilities

You need to know a lot more, but the information about the schools would require more work than most scammers would be prepared to do, but it would be easy to check. Talking about 'gerbils' and 'musical instruments' is 'froth'. If she has real children then she'll have specific facts, which you will need to know. The sooner you have facts you can check, the quicker you can decide if she is a serious employer, because a scammer will lead you on a long and annoying 'dance'.

I already asked her all these question and i sometimes asked her twice (i forgot she already said it to me), and the answer was the same.
She lives in a small village in Towcester in Milton Keynes. We talk about the children, she gave me any details i asked, and she seems very open minded and she cares about me (my travel, the things i want to see in england etc..), we talk about the salary (65pounds per week + extras), and she described me my room, how i could connect my laptop...
She also talked about her daughters' interests, about what she expects me to do, about what she intends to do this summer, etc...

I really think this one is a real..

I really think this one is a real..

It does seem so, and I can't see any reason not to to go for it. Back out of course, if asked to pay any fees to work in the UK, but I don't expect you will be.

this is a real! Crispy Duck find me the adresses of Sam and Deborah!
Then I can go there, Thank you to you all, really, you did a good job!
Take care!

Congratulations Delphine! Don't forget, you can stop back here any time!

yes, i won't hesitte a second to come back here and ask you anything, because you do a good job really!
Thank you!

Oops, had the names reversed, I meant do you know Deborah in real life?

Sounds like this might be legitimate. I would still proceed with caution though.

Good luck!