don't rain on my job hunt

I've been job hunting in the city for about 15 days now, and I'm happy to report I now have a job. Unfortunately, my hunt was not without its darker points. This is a fraudulent response I received to my response to a craigslist ad. I would not have known it was fraudulent (though I had inklings) had I not google'd the email and seen that others had received the same response... in 2009. This is an update, per se, to show that this is still being used. This was in regards to a babysitting gig. The ad seemed legit and looked like most other ads for a babysitter/nanny on craigslist. Here's the email I received:

Am glad to receive your letter and also very happy to let you know that the position is still very much open. Am not sure how best to go about this nanny choosing, as you should understand that a child is not what you just leave in the care of anyone as there has to be trust and love as very good parent would give to a child. Will be nice to have a personally interview so as to create a concrete ground with the hope of all best expectations. I did lose my mom about two weeks ago and only had her funeral some days back here in England and we should be back in states in a week from now, hence, we have been for a look out for a nanny even before the death of mom. It will be nice if we find one before we get back home and if it happens to be you then we would be the happiest people as myself and my husband will be so occupied by work in the coming week and we just seek to have the best person to look over our child. We can kindly get on with all formal interview before we arrive back States and it will be nice if you could come on Instant messenger  so we could have a formal chat and of course conduct some interviews and exchange a few questions so as to prepare ahead of our coming home. You can meet me on yahoo   IM on this ID:(venusclemons@yahoo.com) or you can simply text me on: (646) 494-5160 as I can not receive international calls here cos the tariff is ridiculous on roaming but i can send sms messages and also receive. Just fix a time and i will make out some time within the next 24hours.Thank you so much and i do hope for a better communication and look forward to having you as best of family and friends. 
If you have to know a little about my family, my name is Venus Clemons am 32 years of age and a mother of a wonderful boy Jamie who is 1yr 6months old. We live in New York just recently moved from W. Sacramento. My husband's name is Artis, he is an Engineer and job mostly takes him out town so he mostly away from home. I work as an interior decorator and work from home, so you certainly will have me at most times but am always occupied with work in my home studio and the time we need a nanny is for Mondays-Fridays from 9am-6pm each of these days.
I have listed some questions from for you below as i was advised by the nanny site that these questions should be the basis for  for us to make a choice of a good baby sitter.Our kid mean everything to us and we would do all withing our best of efforts to give him the best of things in life.I hope the questions are not so breath taking , we are only trying to act as we have been directed by the nanny site so we can know we are having someone with enormous experience when it comes to baby sitting.


Questions are listed below:


Do you smoke?
How well do you like pets ?Any allergies?
Do you drink alcohol?
Do you speak any languages other than English?
Would you work in a position with a mom how far? how long?
What are your education goals?
Have you ever been treated for mental illness/depression?
How many children do you feel comfortable caring for?
What ages do you prefer?
Are you CPR and first aid certified?
What are your weaknesses/limitations?
What are your strengths?
What do you like to do your free time?
How many people are in your family?
What is your relationship like with your parents and siblings?
What jobs have you had in the past?
Have you been a past nanny ?where do you get a job?
Are you interested in taking classes?
How assertive are you?Do you feel you communication?
How much do you charge and what hours are you available?
I hope to get your response back soon enough so we can get on with this.


Thank you and stay blessed and lastly kindly send at least one of your reference (s) so we can contact them and know more about you and also you send me a text on  (646) 494-5160  if you need to get a hold of me but I can not receive calls here in England due to international roaming cost.




Upon investigating (google-ing the questions, actually), I read that, had I responded to this email, I would have been given the run-around, eventually resulting in "Venus" wanting me to transfer money because she's overseas, etc. I'm glad I never responded and internet people set me straight. Hope this helps someone else in the future.

The job I did find is pretty close to a dream job, and I'm quite excited about it. My husband and roommate are also now employed at the same place, in the same capacity. We have a very exciting week ahead of us, and many paychecks in our future. I'm looking forward to it!