YUMA, Ariz- A babysitting scam that’s been going around town has many people concerned about sharing too much information with businesses seeking money over the phone.
Public Information Officer Lori Franklin with the Yuma Police Department “The babysitter scam of a lady who’s going to move to the area. She has a child in a wheel-chair. She’s going to ask you to pay her 30 dollars an hour but she’s going to send you a check and she wants you to cash that check and deposit that money for a wheel chair so that it’s ready for her child.”
Most cases if a business has a problem with payments Franklin says you should more than likely be receiving a statement in the mail not a phone call. And if you’re concerned then call the company yourself.
Franklin, “No, if she has a disabled child she’s going to bring all the stuff with her when she comes. Don’t fall into anything where they’re going to ask you to cash a check and keep a little bit for yourself and then send them in the money. When that check clears the bank it’s going to bounce.”
Make sure to not share any personal information or wire any money to anyone who asks.
Janet Torricellas who’s the Regional Director Better Business Bureau said “It’s serious because we always want to safeguard our personal information. Especially when we see post on social media. For example, someone trying to get help from babysitting jobs and what not and offering good money. We want to make sure that we know who’s home we’re going into and we want to pre-screen that person that we’re going to go there and work for.”
Researching the company for reviews is key in finding out what other customers are saying about a particular business.
Torricellas said, “Care.com is known nationwide. They can visit our website and look them up there and see if we have a report on them and if we do glance on how many reports they’ve received.”
Torricellas added, “Often times consumers are looking for any type of babysitting services either on Facebook or either on craigslist. Especially on craigslist you want to make sure that you’re careful with the selections. Make sure that you do some work on the individual and the actually business before abiding to any type of contract or sending any money to a stranger.”