found this on CL.

SCAM ALERT - NANNY / BABYSITER WANTED (Houston)

I have been contacted multiple times by a scammer using different emails and aliases after I posted an ad looking for work as a nanny / caregiver. The person has used both text and email but always asks you to email his email address for more info regarding the position. They included pictures on one text. He has even looked up my number to find the area code location and then told me he lived in the same area. The end result is the person is wanting you to cash a check for pay upfront. I googled the area code phone number and it was linked to multiple extortion attempts / scams out of Puerto Rico. If you look carefully, enough, you may notice some small indicators that the person is not a native English speaker and may be using a translator. What is unique about this person is that they will text back and forth and really spend some time on the scam. I will post two emails below so that you can see the similarities. ***THIS IS A CHECK CASHING SCAM. This person wants you to cash a check that is no good but will take some time to flop. You will go cash it and send them part of the money and keep the rest. Eventually, you will be contacted by your financial institution for reimbursement of the fraudulent check.

From "Shawn Baker"

Hi, Thanks so much for getting back to me, I am glad to find you on craigslist I hope you get to be our ideal caregiver. My wife's name is Madison and our first child named Lisa of 5 years old. My wife is 6 months pregnant and we are in the process of re-locating to your city, I will appreciate if you can recommend a good doctor for her when we arrive. I will be working on a contract basis with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services building, doing private research work and am in need of someone who can help my wife as personal assistant when necessary and childcare for my baby, taking care of her as yours. You would only be needed for 4 hours in a day, 3 days in a week. We are a Christian family, but we don't put the religious issue in the childcare case, you can also work for us as a Muslim or any other tribe, we just need you to be warm and kind with our family and help us in getting around the cities and some other helps you can render for us but the most important thing is child care, we are planning our move already and we will like to secure a childcare worker before our arrival so we will be glad to have you work for us if you will be interested in doing this work for us.
There's nobody who smokes here, we don't smoke in our family.
Lisa is a sweet baby to be with. I have a Personal Assistant who is helping me with the re-locating process. It's okay if you prefer to be a live-in or live-out as babysitter, just as I can drop her at your home everyday, and I will also like to let you know that transportation is not a problem, we can provide a very reliable transport, will greatly appreciate if you will be delighted to accept this offer as we would be arriving on 25th of MAY If you accept this position, I will instruct my finance manager to process the a payment for your first week upfront payment so that I can be rest assured of your availability for the job and wouldn't need to search for a Babysitter any more perhaps we have some items we ordered for Lisa and only the payment is pending and the items will be shipped soon as we pay so the check might include the funds that will pay for the items. As soon as I discuss everything with my finance manager I will get back to you on how you will be receiving the payment I'll also like you to know we are willing to pay you weekly which is $400 that we are willing to pay you per week and we hope that is okay with you,and help us do some errands upon our arrival.
If this employment opportunity is acceptable to you, kindly get back to me asap with the information below required for confirmation and further proceedings to take place:

Full name:
Contact Address: (Not P.O. Box)
Apt #:
City, States and Zip code :
Home & Cell numbers:
Age

Our expected arrival date is 25th of MAY and we want to pay for your first week service to secure your service. All we ask from you is honesty and sincerity. And am sure you will enjoy the time you will spend with my daughter. Please do look into this if you will be interested in working for our family, take just a moment to get back to us and lets have your views. We look forward to hear back from you again in a few if you will be a friend to our daughter.
Please do get in touch on time so that we can start making arrangements with our travel agency while I await your swift response regards this employment offer and the requested details

From "William Thomboro"

Dear _____,
Thanks for getting back to me promptly concerning the babysitting/nanny job, I'm Willy Thomboro the Husband to Kaith with my daughter Angie, We are coming in to your state on vacation from Manchester (England), I contacted you as babysitter/ Nanny for my daughter, because I want her to get used to the environment around her and also make new friends, She is potty trained and also a fast learner, she also loves to swim and visit the park around once a while.

The main reason why I need someone to get this done for us is because we are expecting our baby boy very soon, and it might be a little bit stressful for my wife and for myself because I have to make sure she is fine and get her to the Hospital for her check up and more, while I am doing all this I don't want Angie to feel lonely or bored we will be arriving on the (28Th-May-2017) for a duration of 2 months or more, I might understand if you wont be able to get it done for us for 2 month, but for the time we can have you help us get settled and if you can take care of her for that time then that's fine too.

We will be offering you $350 weekly for 15 hrs a week, I will be offering you more pay because I want you to do the job good with my kid will be needing your services for five hours from (10 am-3 pm or 4 pm-9 pm) for three days in a week or you can schedule a convenient time for you and let me know what time is okay for you to take care of her probably (Thursday to Saturday) I would be needing the service of a caring babysitter/nanny with positive personality to take good care of her on a part time basis moreover I want to be certain you are fit for this position, you will need to prove yourself to be a reliable, honest, and hard working person, you will start working on same day or next day it's okay if you prefer to be a live-out nanny as I can drop her at your home every time I do not mind or a live-in nanny if you can take care of her in our home.

I will instruct the landlord to mail the keys and description of the house to you so you can know the location, also you will be helping us in purchasing groceries for our home complex before or on the day of our arrival and you will be rendering us your services for that duration if you meet up to our expectation with your services. We have a financier that is based in the states and will be handling the payment and as well as our other expenses so he will be the one that will be taking care of your payment, I will instruct him to pay for the first week before our arrival so as to secure your service. if you accept our offer my wife financier would need the following information to mail out the first week payment and some of our other expenses payment that you will be taking care on our behalf before our arrival to the state.


Full Name:
Home Address or Office Address (where payment should be mailed to. No P.O Box:
city:
State:
Zip Code:
Home & Cell Phone Number (Best time to call Day/Night) :

Most importantly, I'll need your total honesty, organizational skill and ability to carry out the task with less or no supervision. I want to believe you will be committed to the work, you can be sure of a great time while watching over Angie. I will be waiting to read from you.



Regards,
Willy's family