Scams are attempts to defraud au pairs or host families by approaching them (mainly) via e-mail. Most of the time, the scammers will ask their targets to send money as an advance payment. This type of confidence fraud is therefore also known as advance-scam, Nigerian scam or 419 (four-one-niner).

The person sending the e-mail usually pretends to be a travel agency responsible for taking care of formalities, such as the application for a visa or the booking of the flight on behalf of the au pair or the host family. For its services, the 'agency' asks for an advance payment. Sometimes, the person asking for money can also be an alleged au pair or host family. In this case, their request is made under the pretext of applying for a working permit or paying for the travel expenses. The fake au pairs and host families often pretend to come from the UK or the US – the most popular countries among our users.

The distinctive feature of these e-mails is the type of offer made - which is always too good to be true. To name just a few examples, beware of au pairs describing themselves as the ultimate nannies and be careful with host-families who wish to offer you above-average pocket-money.

Our tips:

• Never send money to persons you do not know. In particular, do not send money through either Western Union or Money Gram and do not transfer money to any so-called Travel Agencies!
• Do not open a bank account for a third person!
• Do not answer e-mails which you do not consider reliable, but instead forward them to our Aupair World team.
• Be careful with requests you receive on social networks and with offers which seem too good to be true.
• When in doubt, do not hesitate to contact us.

Learn more:

Scams - Protect yourself
Fraudsters increasingly using social networks
Question of the week: Contacted via Facebook - is this a scam?

Useful links:

Au Pair Stories
Info Host Countries
One Topic - Your Questions