I am listed on Care.com as a Caregiver for Seniors. John Bishop emailed me 4 times arranging care for his mother.

John Bishop seemed fairly plausable as someone needing a caregiver for his mother; other than the misworded English in several spots throughout the email. Something just hit me wrong about this job, though it could be passed off as someone born outside of the states and well-off enough to hire a good caregiver for his mother. This is the first email:

Hello,

Thanks for your interest in the job, I am in need of the services of an Experienced senior caregiver for sick elders. I hope I can depend on your work and experiences ? Hence, I would want to know your schedules if you will be available to be with my mom (Margaret).She is 75 year old lady with all faculties, who is living with Cerebral Palsy, suffered a stroke two years ago.

I grew up in your city but reside in Alabama because of the company i work for.. I do come to see mom twice in three months, mom came visiting and she has been here for about 4 months now but she wants to come back because there\'s no one at home presently and she needs to keep the house. So I decided to employ you so that you can monitor her well being while she will be over there. This is going to be a full time position, Mon- Sat, 9am to 4pm, but if you are not available in any of these days, we can work something out. I\'d like to know your city, state and zip code to see if you live close to her because of the distance.

Also I will like to put to your notice that your duties will be preparing and making her meals, cleaning and laundry. She is not a COPD patient and NOT on oxygen. She is mobile with the help of a wheelchair, but is very diminished moving alone. She is kind and appreciative and a very sweet and easy going person. She is quiet and withdrawn, but able to communicate beautifully. I am looking for someone who would take good care of my mom without regrets.

I\'d let you know the exact time that you\'ll be starting as soon as I hear from you with your charges, availability and the hours in which you\'d prefer to work.

BEHAVIORAL SKILLS

1. Prioritize tasks, multi-tasking and detail oriented.
2. Good interpersonal skills
3. Exhibit a service orientation towards everyone
4. Must have the ability to demonstrate solid judgment about patient care
5. Must also demonstrate a sense of understanding and urgency for priorities

DUTIES

Assist with care, meal preparation, giving her medications, light housekeeping, dressing & grooming, laundry & linens cleanings.

I am a very busy person and I don\'t really have time for phone calls, just leave an email if you have any questions and I\'ll answer as soon as possible.
Thank you, hope to read from you soon.

John Bishop
(424) 261-9160

Normal Caregiver stuff. Nothing horribly unusual until the last 2 emails:

Good morning,

I\'d like to congratulate you for securing the position. Thank you for your understanding and interest in taking care of my mom, and after a thorough review I have solely decided to secure this position for you. I would want my mom and yourself under a very conducive environment while you care for her, I will send you the address of where to meet up with mom on her arrival back home and also details of our flight, I\'ll come with mom but will go back as soon as everything is in place, so you\'ll be informed our arrival time to pick us up at the airport.

I\'d have loved to talk to you on phone but I am a very busy person and usually don\'t have much time for phone calls, where standard questions are being asked anyway, therefore prefer communication per email. If you have any specific questions, write them down and I will answer them per email. If there is a real and urgent need for a phone call, specify the issue per email first and then I will try to arrange a Skype call (keep in mind the time zones difference though). If you have any questions that I have not answered, please pardon me and list them in the next email, I\'ll be more than happy to give response to them.

I\'d also like to inform you that i will be needing your assistance in helping her purchase the following items from the grocery stores before her arrival because she won\'t be carrying much bag pack, so i would be happy if some of the items needed could be purchased by you from the grocery a day before her arrival. Such items are listed as below

FOOD

1. Milk 2%
2. Cheese (Cheddar)
3. Yoghurt (Fat free)
4. Breakfast cereals.

FRUITS

1. Vegetables
2. Apples
3. Banana
4. Strawberries or Grapes.
5. Wheat corn, peas or mixed frozen vegetables and Melons
6. Salad.cucumber and tomatoes
7. Kiwi fruits.
8. Carrots

CLOTHING

1. Towels (Big and small sizes) Pink color
2. Bedding Sheets. (King size) White color
3. Washing detergents (Any)
4. Medicated Soaps (Tetmosol)

I already placed an order for a new electric wheel chair ( Invacare TDX SR with Formula CG Powered Seating ) and it is on hold awaiting instructions for shipment. I\'ll let you know how the shipment for the wheel chair goes. I will be waiting to read from you with an estimate cost for the requested supplies.

Thank you, can\'t wait to meet you. Take good care of yourself.

John Bishop
(424) 261-9160

You have enough money to pay me $18/hr but you can\'t manage a lift van from the airport to your Mom\'s house?? I am not driving to the airport to pick these people up.

Hi again,

My mom is anxious to meet you, she said she can\'t wait to meet the person that is going to cater for her. She said something today and I reasoned with her, this is concerning the supplies you need to order before our arrival and the shipment of the wheel chair. She said we should send you an upfront payment which will serve as a deposit for securing our position with you, the payment will cover the supplies you need to order, your upfront payment and the funds which to have the wheel chair shipped to you. We really need your help concerning this issue, my mom is okay with the idea and she hope that you are willing to assist us through this.

So I\'ll issue you a check that covers all the expenses. You can always come with a friend or family member to the house to watch/play with mom. I will have my financial manager informed about this and I want you to get back to me with the below details as requested so that I can pass it across to him and have him make payment to you so that you can do all necessary things. Kindly have the payment details sent to me in the format below

Name on check :
Address (ONLY RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS PLEASE) :
City, State & Zip Code :
Mobile Phone number :

For finalization of pay rate, we\'ll be paying you $18/hr just to ensure adequate care of my mother and it would be bi-weekly or monthly depending on your specifics. We\'ll arrive on the 19th of this month but before then we want everything to be in place, the groceries and the wheel chair and I hope you\'ll be able to handle this. Mom has a friend who could stay with her whenever you are unable to.

Thanks a million for your time and understanding, hope to read from you in no time.

John Bishop
(424) 261-9160

$18?!! That\'s experienced LPN pay, not normal Caregiver pay. This job has to be a scam. I just put his email address in the search box tonight and sure enough... Well, back to hunting for a real job to pay the bills.

Scam Tip Report #13742 - I am listed on Care.com as a Caregiver for Seniors. John Bishop emailed me 4 times arranging care for his mother.

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