Are you a caregiver? If so, be on the lookout for phony clients looking to pull a fast one. Child care workers, nannies, in-home care providers, pet sitters and other caregivers are being contacted with job offers by scammers, posing as clients, offering to pay up-front for their services. They send checks for well over the cost of services and ask the caregiver to send a portion of the money to a third party. The problem is the checks are counterfeit and the caregiver doesn’t find out until it’s too late.
The scam is similar to many other advance payment scams that have been around for ages. The con artists are very persuasive and use stories that appeal to your humanity. They may claim special items or medical equipment will be needed to take care of their loved one and ask that a portion of the payment they are sending be sent to the third party to cover the expenses. While the check may be accepted by the bank and the funds made available to you within a few short days, it can take weeks for the bank to discover that the check is bogus. If you have already withdrawn the money, the bank will pursue you for the funds. And if you’ve made the mistake of sending any portion of it by wire transfer, such as Money Gram or Western Union, to the “third party”, you can probably kiss that money goodbye. By that time the crooks will be long gone, more than likely pursuing similar scams with other unfortunate victims. It’s virtually impossible to trace the scammers because once the money is transferred the scammer can pick up the funds at any money transfer location in or outside of the country. In a variation, the scammer may request that the funds be loaded onto a reloadable debit card and ask for the account information to retrieve the money. This is also virtually untraceable.
Always be proactive and cautious when you are solicited with offers out of the blue. Even if you have listed your services on sites such as Care.com or other places that match clients with caregivers, be suspicious of offers that appear too good to be true. Some warning signs include:
- the potential client wants to pay you in advance for services
- they want you to accept a check for more than the cost of your services and wire or transfer money to another party
- they request personal information such as your social security number or financial information
- they contact you claiming to be out of the country
To avoid falling victim to this type of scam, take note of the following:
- Don’t deposit a check from or send money to anyone you don’t know.
- Never share your bank account number, personal or financial information, with anyone unless you have checked them out thoroughly.
- Check out a potential client by searching online for their name, email address, phone number, and even the text of the message you received.
- Don’t respond to messages asking for your personal information.
If you have fallen victim to this or a similar scam, don’t remain silent. Let others know. Start by filing a complaint with Business Consumer Alliance. You can also report the incident to law enforcement, local and federal agencies, and to people you know, so they can be aware and in turn warn others.
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Scam Watch: Enterial.com/RC's Wholesale Electronics
About Business Consumer Alliance
Business Consumer Alliance (BCA) is a non-profit company that started in 1928. The broad purpose of BCA is to promote business self-regulation. BCA's mission is achieved by assisting consumers in resolving complaints with businesses and using that complaint information, along with other relevant information such as customer reviews, to forecast business reliability. With community support, BCA can identify trustworthy and ethical businesses and warn the public to avoid unscrupulous businesses whose purpose is to defraud the marketplace. BCA also helps businesses promote themselves by providing services and tools to protect their business and reach out to their customers. BCA obtains its funding from member businesses who support the mission and purpose of the organization and who agree to abide by high standards of ethical business practices.