HELP!!! IS IT A SCAM??

I received this email this morning, could you tell me more about it?:

Hello,

We are a British family, we travel a lot and have a lots of fun. We have two adorable kids their names are Harry and Ruth.We are looking for a loving, responsible, energetic person to take care of our kids starting as soon as you can. We do not require much babysitting in the evenings or on weekends which means that you are free to enjoy these exploring, touring, shopping, go to the library which is right across the street from us, or go to the synagogue, which is also right across the street.
On your days off you can enjoy traveling to the city, their is a bus which will take you there right from outside our home. We will provide you with comfortable accommodations, including your own private floor, kitchen and bathroom, TV, wireless internet, laptop and car usage if you like, we want you to feel like a part of the family and not like a helper or worker.We both work,. We are looking for someone who will enjoy creating fun, imaginative games with our children, taking walks, and running around the zoo and the playground. Hours will be Monday through Friday 9am - 4:30pm . There will be opportunities to make additional money with evening and weekend babysitting, since we have many friends who are in need of babysitting here and there.
If we sound like your kind of family, and you are looking for a job covering the dates we need someone, we would love to talk to you! If you are interested, Please contact us via e-mail or mobile number...+44 703 5972 197 immediately.
Regards..........Mackenzie
For the family"

Scam or not?.... Please not..

Sorry

+44 703 5972 197

a "redirect to anywhere" number, used by scammers to add 'authenticity' to their claim of being in UK.

A quick search of that number shows it is used in Lottery scams, other Employment scams . . so sadly, it is a scam!

Why does all the 'families' are scams??

I sent a email to a fammilly (Mrs Deborah Harris), who reply and said she had find an au pair, but this morning I received an email:
Hi there Delphine,



You wrote my friend Deborah through the findaupair website. She has a summer au-pair now but I am still looking for one.


I am looking for an au-pair for the summer holidays to look after my three girls, 9, 12 and 14 years old. It would mostly be looking after my 9 year old daughter, cooking some meals and some light housework. I am looking for an au pair to work 3 days and up to 2 evenings per week. Any time you are not working you are free to go out. You would be welcome to join us out on trips. I would like the au-pair to be a big sister to my children!



In our house there is myself and my 3 children plus lots of animals! We have cats, guinea pigs and gerbils. We love animals. We also love music – I used to play many instruments but not anymore and we listen to lots of music (especially rock music!). We like to walk, swim, play video games and have fun!



If you would be interested in coming to stay with us please write back and we can talk about it some more.



Thank you.

Samantha Borland."

You will say that I am paranoid, but I verify all my emails now... But please, tell me this one works...

and the adress of this email is <[email protected]>

Hmmmm - this one has no 'hits' in the searches, there are records for "Samantha Borland" which appear legitimate, so maybe you could reply, see what responses you get?

As it appears on the surface to have come from a 'recommendation', it could well be legitimate?

Just please proceed with caution, do NOT send any personal details (copy of passport etc) - & certainly remain paranoid. If there is any request for you to use their recommended agency for work permit/visa/airfare - please post it here!

Otherwise, it does not seem a scam (yet!).

Good luck & please ask if you are unsure - here or by PM.

If it's a scam, it's a new format to me. And there's nothing I can see to tell one way or the other.
Can you quote the full email headers from the email, so we can see approximately where the email came from.
If you don't know how, we can tel you if you tell us who you use for email.

I told her we could talk by webcame on msn and she answered:

I am at work at the moment (I work in ICT as a business analyst / project manager) but I can talk to you tonight on msn if you like my msn address is [email protected]


I will email you tonight with some answers to your questions. Your dates are fine for me!


Speak to you later.


Sam.

I still think it could go either way, but there are a few small things in the English, and now in the response, that are worrying me just a bit. I also can't tell for certain if the response means that this person is avoiding webcam.

As Crispy Duck said, take this very slowly, and do not release confidential personal information. If you do get on chat, could you please save the log and either post it here or send it by private message for further analysis?

yes of course i will post everything she send to me here, for you all to see it =)
Thank you!

And i don't know how to find the full email headers from the email ...

and i use gmail sorry i forgot

1. Log in to your Gmail account.
2. Open the message you'd like to view headers for.
3. Click the down arrow next to Reply, at the top-right of the message pane.
4. Select Show original.

* The full headers will appear in a new window.

Reminder: Make sure you copy and paste the entirety of the message headers in your report.

If I had to decide now, I'd say it was a scammer, and it may be that your details have been passed on to a more experienced operator.

There are a couple of ways of saying things that aren't right for the sort of person she claims to be, but above everything else, it's what she doesn't say and her family set up that is most worrying.

Her husband ?
How will she manage during your free time ?
How has she managed up until now ?

Mentioning gerbils and pets is intimate but irrelevant detail. If she wants and needs help, then she should be more specific about your duties. This is not a fluffy headed girl but a high powered executive who knows how to function in the business world. I can see this from the profile of the person she claims to be.

The first part of a scam consists in making you want it badly. For that reason the pay will be fantastic and the work will be made to sound like paid holiday. If it sounds too good, then instead of making it your dream, you must look out for the scam, and that's when the request for money will come along. As soon as that happens then you know it's been a scam all along.

They will hide that until the last thing to make sure that you want the job so badly that you'll take the risk of losing your money, but the second the request for money is made you'll know for certain - it's a scam.

I don't believe that the mail is suggesting you speak by webcam but using webchat, and som scammers can be quite good at making themselves appear to be English

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