"Mexican family" scam

A few weeks ago I heard from an inquiring parent needing care immediately for his two sons. He confirmed that my day home was the one he would like for his sons to attend as soon as they returned to Calgary from Mexico. He sent a money order for far more than my deposit. He's now requesting that I deposit it and putting all kinds of pressure on me to issue him a new money order and send it to his address in Mexico; not allowing the time for it to clear in my account and even going so far as suggesting I deposit it in an ATM and withdraw the remainder to issue a new one. Alarm bells went off and I requested the teller at my bank to hold it for as long as it takes to fully clear and letting her know how sketchy I think it is. Has anyone else had this problem?

100% scam, I'm sorry you are having to deal with this :( Do not under any circumstances send him any money.

So sorry your dealing with this. A LOT of us have gotten the same email. all across canada

http://www.daycarebear.ca/forum/show...re...-Thoughts

Do NOT send him money back or they will clear out your bank account

Do not ever book a child in your daycare without meeting with the family no matter what. If you follow that rule you will not put yourself in the position to be scammed.

This money order is no good and hopefully your bank doesn't have any charges to you for it bouncing. Do not send any money!

I recently had a similar situation- a Canadian family returning home from living in Mexico wanted to enroll their 2 sons,,, but I thought something was fishy when they wanted to wire money to me - I emailed them saying I'd need to meet them 1st- no reply--- thanks for posting about this, it is so important to avoid these scammers!

Thank you sooo much, lovely caregivers!!! I wasn't going to send him anything back but you've just confirmed all my suspicions. I really hope no one falls for this!

Indeed, never ever send or accept money from anyone on the Internet, without meeting with them and preferably signing a contract ! Unfortunately, scammers do look through online classified ads (on our site, and on many others), trying to lure unsuspecting people into their scheme.

Note that we are currently trying to identify the IPs that were used to access our website, so we can try to prevent these scammers from contacting our users again. ;)

My family owns another business in retail and we've had this there as well. They want to buy large quantities promising to have the shipping taken care of, they want to send a money order for the amount ect. It's the same scam across the board.

How much did was the discrepancy between what they paid and what they owed? I've always wondered how much money someone is looking for when they do this.

What they usually come back is with is something along the lines of there was a mistake and their relocation company accidentally sent their childcare deposit and ______ something important and could you please wire the excess amount back to them immediately and they will pay for the wire.

Being military and relocated frequently it never made sense but I can see how someone might do it in the sense that we care about kids and if the money was for the child's physical to leave the country or copies of child's documents or whatever we think of a child suffering if we don't do it. Even if they pay for the wire they will still get enough money from the scam. The urgency blamed on the child's needs is so it gets done before the bank catches on.

This is so scary that this is happening. We all need to be very careful and cautious!

When I found out about this scam, I was terrified, but he had already mailed me the cheque for 2,880.00. After getting it in the mail I went to the same bank of his money order and had them check it for me. Sure enough the teller told me she that this was not their money orders and nothing was coming up. My advice is just have the bank check any and every money order, draft or cheque before depositing it into your account and never send out any money. I learned a big lesson with this guy !

Scam! I used to work at a bank for several years and people do this all the time. They target older people and claim they are their grandchildren and need money, they purchase things through kijiji like cars and such and then 'change their minds' or 'accidentally' put too much money. Don't EVER forward them back the money. The bank can hold the draft/money order and all they have to do is contact the branch/institute the moneys were drawn from and most of the time they can determine that it is fraud. I had one client who was selling a car (they were only like 18 years old) and the people sent the money order through a courier so they came in with the draft to cash it and they were all ready to hand over the vehicle but we caught it before it went that far. Another client was selling his vehicle and took the draft and released the vehicle to the people. He cashed the draft and spent it (he didn't have a hold on his account) and then a few days late it came back fraud and the client was liable because he spent it and in turn had to pay back the bank and lost his car too boot. Craziness! Be Careful out there as these people are getting smart and like to pull at your heart string with sob stories about their starving children or dying parents and none of it's true.

I had the same email a few weeks ago as well. It was a Canada mother living in Mexico self employed there and wanted immediate care for her 2 sons when they arrived. I knew something was fishy about this situation so I wanted to make sure for myself. I asked them to call me (didnt give my # or home address) and her answer was that she couldnt because of long distance charges LOL. I then told her I needed to meet with her before hand and she sd that she couldnt because she was in Mexico, after all that I told her that all spaces were full and never heard back again!

Keep an eye out everyone never ever give any personal information out and if you ever have someone saying Ill send you a Money Order or Money Transfer or even cheque do not fall for it, as they would want you cash the money order or cheque then send them funds back. This is all fraudulent

Yes I heard from them too, scam scam scam

Hello everyone. I am a new addition to this group. I was contacted during the holidays by a canadian family that wants to come back to Toronto from Mexico. They have two childrens and they also send me a photo of their family. I received the money order yesterday from a different person from Richmond VA. I did not deposit the money yet and he just emailed me today asking to cash the money order immediately. He also asked me to return some of the funds for his move.

I want to thank you all for giving me a heads up. That would have cost me a lot.
Didi

They are contacting me for the past 2 weeks. I just received an email today from them. The cheque came in last friday.

Didi

Never ever book a family into your daycare without meeting them first. This will keep you from being scammed

Thank you all for posting about this scam. I received that email last week, and immediately knew something was wrong so I checked daycarebear in case it hapened before and I find this... So grateful you shared. They said they are Canadian abroad who want to come back, wire transfers, change of plans, too many questions, avoiding my registration questionnaire, a fake family picture... Oh they are so mean!!

I was also contacted and informed them that I would definitely send the money back once the funds had cleared my bank. Was told not to worry as they had found alternate care. :thumbsup:

I received a similar email and just deleted it. It's not something I even gave a second thought to. An obvious scam and not worth my energy. There is always some form of scam/spam email going around and they are always just a slight variation of each other so they really are super obvious to spot.

Hi I am a new day home provider just starting out so you can imagine that I was so excited to get my first child. Little did I know I would be in for a big let down. The scam is now under the name of Lax Moory and his associate is Mariya Anderson. He is claiming to have 2 boys and even sent me a very adorable picture. When I received the cheque it was for 1980.00$ so naturally I was confused because that was not how much the deposit was. When I asked him about it he said " oh there was a mistake and to just deposit what I needed and send him the remainder so I was worried. So I talked to my sister in law and we checked out scams and found out about it, so I'm going to be contacting the police and the news and go from there. Just be careful of people out there who want to take advantage of the people who do one of the hardest and most precious job.

I had my turn with this dummy! I have been in contact with him for about 3 weeks.

his "payment cheque" came yesterday and does it ever look real! It says its from CIBC and its in double the amount of what my rate is
If anyone need a copy of this cheque PLEASE contact me

I am in Ottawa Ont

It is now hanging on my wall to remind myself to ALWAYS be cautious

I had the same thing. Canadian family working in mexico looking to come back and need daycare for their 3 year old boy. We went through all the questions and they even sent me a picture. But when they sent the deposit it was $1980.00 my deposit is only $100. So I sent them an email saying I no longer had a spot for them and that I would be destroying the check. I haven't heard from them since.

exactly the same as me. I'm in Ottawa as well.

I too received a money order from the same person I am sure, and sent him a message that the Bank of Montreal has posted on there web site. I too received a pic of the "family" and I am sure it is not his family.

Today, I got an inquiry from a man who says he and his wife have lived and worked in Mexico for the past 5 years but they are Canadian citizens and are returning to Canada in a few weeks to set up new business, along with their 3 yr old son. They wish to enrol their child in my daycare a.s.a.p. so they don't have to look for care when they get back to Canada. I'm wondering if I should be concerned about the child possibly not being of Canadian citizenship as they have been there for 5 years and son is 3 yrs. old. Also, it sounds like they may wish to register him before I meet him...does anyone register a child before they meet them? Finally, would I need to worry about different immunizations? I've never had this request before. Thanks.

This sounds like a scam that people have posted about before. I got a similar one with the same story, the couple was returning from another country and wanted to find care for their 2 sons. It was sent out to about a dozen providers on here at the same time it seems, because I went to post basically the same questions as you and realized that others had had the same enquiry. Maybe check the "scam" thread for their name? One thing I noticed about the email I got was that although the man told me his name and the children's names, he never actually said where I lived, he just said they are moving to "my area" and want to find daycare asap "in my area" I guess so they could send the same email to a bunch of different providers.

I'd be wary of going any further...

Scam. Never register anyone or cash anything before meeting the family in person.

Agree - always meet a family before you commit to anything!

This is a scam. Don't communicate with them anny further. They will want to pay a deposit and they will send you too much and then you will deposit the cheque and send them the difference. By the time you realize their cheque has bounced, they have disappeared with the money you sent. Many versions of this same email have been going around. Never accept a registration without meeting with the family, at least over Skype if not in person.

Great to get all the advice - thanks! I'm new to this forum and often felt alone with my daycare...this is great! eb

I just got the exact same email. It's a scam

I got the same email, been emailing him back and forth for a few days. Should have looked here first before I wasted my time lol. He hasn't said anything about sending a cheque tho he did ask if he needed to pay a deposit and I told him no. I guess I will see if he emails back again. Thankfully the first email made me suspicious so he has no info from me except my email address.

FYI the name he used is Jim Niber and his wife Rebecca and kids Brochu and Wayne. Even went as far as sending a family pic. email jimniber@icloud.com. Doubt they ever use the same names tho.

Scary!

I had the same guy this week as well - Jim niber....I am in Surrey - thanked him for his interest, I realize your a scam and please stop emailing me - have not heard from him since....

I've just been dealing with him as well. He goes by Pinet Niber with me. Same names for his wife and kids. Ugh. Thankfully I found this thread before he sent me the money order. Ugh.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hayland

I got the same email, been emailing him back and forth for a few days. Should have looked here first before I wasted my time lol. He hasn't said anything about sending a cheque tho he did ask if he needed to pay a deposit and I told him no. I guess I will see if he emails back again. Thankfully the first email made me suspicious so he has no info from me except my email address.

FYI the name he used is Jim Niber and his wife Rebecca and kids Brochu and Wayne. Even went as far as sending a family pic. email jimniber@icloud.com. Doubt they ever use the same names tho.

Scary!

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Wow, you'd think he'd at least change the names. Sounds identical to the email I got. I didn't reply as I didn't want him to have my email addy. I don't entirely trust the internet to keep my info private.

Yes i got an email and before it went any further i referred a friend as i didn't have space. She almost got scammed by them but western union caught it. that was in brampton. i would call fraud dept right away

We had the same situation at our center. A Jim Niber wanted to register his 3 year old son at our center for when he returned with his family after working in Mexico for 5 years. He sent us a picture of his "family" and asked questions about our center. He sent us a CIBC money order for $2790.00 and said that his "associate" overpaid us. He wanted us to send money orders back to Mexico for his "properties shipment". I contacted the bank and they said the money order is a fraud and to take it to the police.

I've been in business 6 years and these scams have been going on ever since I started, so obviously longer than 6 years. Why hasn't somebody caught one of them by now? Ugh! I always just delete them, but I notice that I only get them when I advertise on daycarebear. I'm not going to stop advertising here because I find great clients on this site too, but it seems to be a popular site for spammers and scammers.

***** Beware ******

Looks like these scammer are at it again, so I want to share these emails.

____________________ ____________________ ____________________ _____
Greetings,

My name is Mr Niber and my wife name is Rebeca. We just searched for your contact on internet, when searching for a daycare in your area for our son. We are relocating to your area and we need a daycare to register our little boy as soon as possible ahead of our arrival in your area. His name is Brochu and he's almost 3 years old

I will like to know if you have open space to register our son because we want to register our son with you now before our arrival, so we can focus on setting up our business without any waste of time on searching for daycare once we get over there.

We will like to always drop our child at your daycare Monday to Friday every morning by 10 AM to 3 PM or 4 PM. Also i will like to know how much money do you charge per day?

Please get back to me on time if you have open Space for our son and let me know your daily fees as well, so we can continue on their registration process with you.

I will be waiting for your quick response.

Thanks


____________________ ____________________ ____________________ _______

Hello,

We are Canadians living and working in Mexico for the past 5 years, it is time to move back to Canada in less than 2 weeks , I would have loved to call you to talk better on the phone but our work schedule will not permit me and I'll need to buy a calling card to do so, that's why I chose emailing for registration process before we arrived.

Your fee is very affordable for us and it's perfect with our budget as planned, but before we go forward, the safety of our child is very important to us.

If you do not mind, we'd like to know about you? What should be our expectations on our child while attending your daycare? What about food , you will be the one that provides him food or He should always go with His food? You can also provide additional information as well .

Your prompt reply will be appreciated. I'll get back to you with all the necessary information you need to know about our child to continue the registration process and I'll send you our latest family photo.

Thanks
____________________ ____________________ ____________________ _______

I like to thank all who share their post regarding these scams in the past.