You’ve created your online profile, posted an ad and reached out to families that seem wonderful – Guys you’re off to a fantastic start! I wanted to warn you though of an issue that has creeped up on these platforms. Once in a while, a person will reach out to nannies under the guise of a parent, ask for personal information, and offer to meet in an undisclosed location. Fortunately, care.com and sittercity.com have made special efforts to avoid this from happening, but every so often a creep slips under the radar and nannies should be aware. Myself and several nannies I’ve met have come across something similar to the following… A nanny will receive a message from a “single parent”- usually a “dad” – looking for a fantastic nanny/manny. They may offer $25-$40 per hour for daytime/overnight work and would like to meet alone in an undisclosed location. They may ask you to respond with nothing but a cellphone number and send photos of yourself in addition to your online profile photo. Some ask you to bring a signed check so that they can “make sure of your banking situation” so that they will know how to pay you. Others will write strange posts like this…
“Need responsible nanny asap. need someone who is able to take care of children that is convenient for both.let me know if you can do this job perfectly.” or “nanny needed for to take care of two childe as soon as possible. Children is 10 months old, need help with cleaning also. $20-40 per hr”
It may seem obvious that this is a scam, but unfortunately some have been pulled into these traps because they genuinely thought it was a good job offer. Here are a few things to consider when applying for jobs online…
– Pay attention to the wording – Parents looking to find a nanny or sitter will either be very detailed in their post or short and direct concerning their needs
– Pay attention to spelling and grammar – A post with a number of spelling and grammatical errors should be a red flag. A person who is serious about finding help will quickly read over their post before putting it up on the site and check for errors. Most people don’t misspell three or more words in a post containing two sentences – especially if they’re offering to pay you high rate.
– Remember that only when you’ve established some form of valid communication via email and phone and are able to decipher if you both have common interests in relation to the job, should you take the next step and meet the parents.
– Never give out personal financial information or your social security number to a family unless you have agreed to work with them, have met in person, and you are being paid via direct deposit and/or they need to perform a background check. Care.com offers a secure way of performing background checks and payment to nannies, so consider that option when opting to do so.
Nannies aren’t the only ones susceptible to online dangers. Parents have complained about nannies falsifying information, faking references in order to get jobs. One way to combat this is by reaching out to parents used as references via email AND telephone. Feel free to ask nannies you are interviewing to give you some insight into the role they played with their prior family, without prying into the family’s personal information of course! Some parents have gone so far as to meet these parents used as references in person for extra assurance. While you don’t want to come off as mistrustful, with all of the scary things happening throughout the world today you can never be too safe. If you feel uneasy, take the extra precautions rather than sit with doubts concerning who you’re hiring.
Stay Safe!
*Note – I am not affiliated with care.com or sittercity.com.