Au pair scam?

Hello,

I am soon moving to the UK to start school and I have been offered an au pair job. I want to be cautions about it.

I do not believe them to be a money scam, since I already had my visa and ticket when I contacted them. I am worried it may be another type of scam such as human trafficking. I know I am acting paranoid, but I just want to be safe.

I first contacted the family via http://www.greataupair.com. In this webpage you need to be a subscribed member in order to contact users via private message. I searched for different profiles and came across this family. They sounded pretty good, not too fantastic (by this I mean realistic), and added them to my favorites. After this, my profile was listed to them and, since they were a subscribed family (since Aug 2011), they contacted me via private message.

After this we exchanged several message through the website. After that, she gave me her personal e-mail account.

On all her messages and mails, she sounds totally legit and real. We talked about details of the job the accommodation. Everything. The messages have a lot of detail and are very personalized. She asked me how much I hoped to earn and after I asked for 140 pounds a week, she said they were thinking more around 120. This is a very good salary but not impossible. They offer the job in xxxxx, which also is not a very popular location. They also gave me an address I googled in google maps but couldn't find the exact location. She gave me a phone number and a Skype account (+4477xxxxxxxx).

All of these details, make them seem real and legit. Still when I added her to Skype her account shows to have only one contact, me. She had said before that she would try the Skype connection with her sister. Still I am her only contact. This and not finding the exact location in google maps makes me wonder and be cautions. I have not been able to find her in google, facebook, twitter, anything. I've googled her mail and she hasn't popped.

She has not asked for any money, but, like I said, I am more afraid of ending up with another type of scam. I already have my visa and plane ticket and they asked for all y flight details to send a taxi come pick me up at the airport.

I hope you can advice my. Thank you very much in taking the time to read this.

Many regards,

Quianne.

Hi Quianne, this looks like a scam.

Their house is listed as being for sale.

Google Earth shows it surrounded by a very large horticulture business, several acres of green houses, with the associated transport and machinery on site.

the 447 phone number is suspect, it is a UK re-direct number, to anywhere in the world.

If you can wait a little longer, one of the UK based people in SW will be along to check it out further.

You are right to be cautious, I'm almost convinced this is a scam, but will continue looking for proof.

Take care

Hello John

Thank you very much for your help. I will, like you suggested wait longer ^_^ and see what your UK people find. She did mentioned they had just moved to this place.

Sigh I am starting to be really disappointed.

Many regards and thanks again.

Quianne

P.S. I think it is a great thing you are doing with this website. Congratulations

Hi Quianne,

I'm British, and I've had a look at this at John's request.

The telephone number turns out to be, not a redirect number, but a normal UK mobile number. I have also found the house on Google maps - it is hidden behind some trees!

We certainly can't tell you whether a family is trustworthy, but I can tell you that, in my opinion, this shows no evidence of being a scam. The host family writes in a very natural way for a British person, and, as you say, they have not requested any money from you.

Please, however, take all the normal care that you would take when meeting strangers - and perhaps seek further advice and arrange a back-up plan with your Student Welfare advisor in the UK, in case you do not feel comfortable with the family.

As there is no evidence that this family are scammers, I'm going to remove their information from the posts above, so that they are no longer identifiable here. It is always good to ask about any family you are unsure about, and we are able to help best if we have full information, so you did absolutely right in posting all the details! Thank you for that. I'm sure you understand, though, about my removing them again now.

I agree with the comments Chris made - in this particular case there seem to be legitimate explanations for some of the things you thought were questionable. It's great that you've taken the time to look carefully at your potential employer, and please continue to be cautious. Especially if they ask you for some kind of payment at the last minute, which would be a major red flag.

wishing you all the best for your time here in the UK!

Thank you very much for all your help. I feel really exited and safe about this. Again I think that what you do is awsome. Congratulations and thanks again.

Many regards,

Quianne

P.S.: Could you remove the address from the post as well please?