Scams from Dr. Bill Preble

[Marcy Rivera]

Everyone please be careful. Times are hard and it is easy to be scammed. I thought I was being a good person to help a Dr. from Canada. He stated he was coming to chicago for a seminar and needed someone to watch his twins. We comunicated for a month ragrding the care of the kids. He even sent me a check yesterday for 2,200.00. I was so excited since Christmas was around the corner and bills needed to be paid. Part of the money was for toys for the kids, I thought he was a great daddy. Well all of a sudden he sends me an e-mail telling me to cash the check and go to Western Union with part of the money and send it to Carters Danna (Toy Store) so they could send the toys to me before they arrive. A red flag went up when he was giving me instruction to cash the ck and I did not recagnize the stores name. So I started to investigate in the internet to find out this is a scam. He also hit a daycare in Columbus and I am sure many more. I am sick to my stomack. Times are hard enough and this to happens.

[SNAP Learning Center]

We have had almost the exact same thing happen to us! 2 weeks after we were open for business we had 6 parents asking to enroll. Of course we were thrilled, but I couldn't figure out why no one local had responded to our ad, only families from different countries (including a mom from Canada with two girls!!!) After researching "Internet Day Care Scams" I came across a listing from a woman who had posted an ad on CraigsList. She gave examples of 3 emails she had responded to, all from out of the country and all offering to send money in advance. Once she cashed the check or Western Union Money Gram, they would insist she return part or all of the money, for what ever reason. The upshot is that the funds they sent here were not real, and she would have bounced her checking account, with no way to trace the money she had returned!!
After reading that, I no longer provide my address to a family until they CALL me to schedule their tour. It helps weed out the scammers!!
I think it is horrible that someone would target home day care providers, but we all need to be on the look out!