An odd question, but....

[Schnakes]

Evening all,

So. I have an odd question. I have had an email from a potential client who is from a non-European country. Where she is from there is no such thing as a childminder! She has asked me to explain, as she is looking for childcare for her daughter. Well! I was sat there thinking...um...Im somebody who looks after children in my own home. A bit like a nursery but not. Erm...?? Dunno! (Maybe its because Im tired and on my 2nd glass of wine of the evening... ). Whatever! Doesnt sound very proffessional or accurate - it totally downplays our role! So Im wondering - if you could give a breif job description of our wonderful profession - what would it be?!?! In my reply Ive started waffling, and it can only get worse from there!!!

Sx

[Banana]

Why dont you just give her a snipping out of your welcome policy or your aim?

x

[miffy]

Are you sure this is a genuine enquiry?

Do you know where she got your e-mail from?

Miffy xx

[sarah707]

I had one of these the other day... if it's anything like this, it's a con!

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/fo...highlight=rich

[Lou]

Are you sure this is a genuine enquiry?

Do you know where she got your e-mail from?

Miffy xx

exactly what i was gonna say

[Schnakes]

Hi guys - sorry cant access that page - presumably cos Im still a basic member?

Can you tell me what it says?

Thank you,

Sx

[Schnakes]

Also - I dont know where she got it. I havent replied yet. Just came accross like she was new here and wanted some help.

Sx

[sarah707]

Sorry! Here's the email I got...

My name is harry rosario and i am an italian american . At present,i am
looking for a minder for my 3year old son,that would be moving to the uk with me.. we would be in the uk for 36months i am recently divorced, and have custody of my custody of my son due to a court injuction
i am in search for a child minder who would be with him during the day
i would like to know if you can offer your services. i would like to know your
1... your location
2....fees (per hour....perday) depending on how you have always given your services. In regards your fees,i would be happy to ask my client to post a certified uk cheque to you in advance for deposit and booking of your services.I would make arrangements for every other payment in cash once i arrive in the uk...I would be happy if you can get in touch with me as soon as possible. thanks in anticipation as i await your urgent response.
best regards. h.rosario
---- Msg sent via CWNet - http://www.cwnet.com/

[Lou]

there are a lot of scams around so be careful xxxxx

[Schnakes]

Ah - no. Ive had two of those through Gumtree, but this one wasnt through Gumtree (it came straight to my email address) and didnt give any of this nonsense about "can I have your bank details so I can forward you £300 in advance" rubbish!! Just a plain - I dont know what minders do, please can you tell me!!!

Sx

[Lou]

well in that case....................

give her the hard sell honey!!!!!

[Schnakes]

First time Ive LOL at the computor in months Lou!!!

God I love you guys!! (Or is that the wine talking again...!!?)

Sx

[angeldelight]

gumtree is the worst place for the childminding scams

I know a few people who have had to report them

There must be loads of people out there who are out to try and make money

I wonder what happens when people fall for it ?

xx

[miffy]

Let us know how you get on with this S.

Miffy xx

[Schnakes]

Totally bizarre...I went to send her an email last night (decided to play it safe and sent her a few links!!) and it came back to me saying the address didnt exist. Even though I hit reply??? Just dont get it. Even if it was a scam....how can you scam someone by doing that? Unless they were phishing...gulp!!!!

Sx

[susi513]

WARNING ######### "certified cheque via client" ########
implies a scam I'm afraid. Note the beginning of the email implies the email is from the father of the child to be minded as it refers to "my son" so who's the client? I'd ignore this one, sorry.

Its more likely to be genuine if it doesn't mention how they're going to pay you before they ask how much its going to cost.

If you get an email that appears on first glance to be genuine I would suggest asking them LOTS of questions about the child's needs before you start divulging any personal details such as your location or any other contact/personal details.

eg:

- the child's name & date of birth
- that the person sending the email is the parent/legal guardian of the child, and their name & current address
- what brings them to this area - new job/move house?
- temporary or full-time?
- Where EXACTLY will they be living/staying & when will they arrive here?
- what dates, times will they need
- does child speak english, what other languages do they speak?


- that no payment will be accepted and no place can be reserved until the parent & child have attended an appointment to discuss the child's needs in detail. I would ask lots of questions about immunisations (which might be different in another country), health/allergies/childhood illnesses etc etc
- Parents ID & child's birth certificate will need to be shown at interview.

Hopefully if its bogus they won't bother to answer you. If you exchange several emails you have more data to make a decision about whether its genuine.

NEVER give out your bank details over the internet to someone you haven't met and I would be EXTREMELY cautious before giving out address/phone number too - I would expect to exchange several emails before arranging an appointment if it is someone genuine from another country. If it still looks genuine at that point I think I would ask for their address to send my permission forms (if asked would say can't do by email as I need to have an original document with orignal signatures from both parents). Verifies their address is a genuine place if the forms come back, you see. Can't think of anything else we can check.

Its not impossible to get an enquiry from another country (some of my current parents spend a lot of time in Germany, France, Russia, Prague for example and could easily have needed to contacted me from there). But sadly the odds are that most emails will be bogus.

I suggest using a different email address for internet adverts like gumtree - eg hotmail then you can change it when it starts getting too much spam. As well as a more long-term address that existing parents can use and you might be comfortable with CIS and local ads having displayed.

[susi513]

Sorry, misread who posted what, thought Sarah's post was from same poster as op. So its Sarah's email, as she already said, that I was referring to as bogus.

Schnakes, as she's asking detailed questions I would reply but recommend extreme caution! Hopefully with a few more emails (without you giving any personal info away) she'll give herself away if bogus or you'll build up confidence in her being genuine. Good luck!

[Schnakes]

Thats a good idea about using another email address. I still have my "proffessional" one from when I was working in the office, so I think I'll start using that, because its not linked to anything else. Good idea - cheers Susi!

Sx