Fake Caregiver and Nanny Job Scams via Email
How fraudulent nanny and caregiver job offers delivered by email use formal employment correspondence and cheque overpayment fraud to steal from caregiving job seekers.
Part of: Fake Caregiver & Nanny Job Scams
Last reviewed: 9 June 2026
While social-media-based caregiver scams exploit community trust, email-based variants take a different approach: they present formal-looking employment correspondence that mimics the communications of a legitimate domestic staffing agency. The more official register of email can create a convincing impression of a properly managed hiring process compared to a casual social media message.
Caregiving job seekers who register with online domestic staffing platforms or post CVs on job boards are the primary targets. They are accustomed to receiving email enquiries from potential employers and may not immediately distinguish a fraudulent approach from a genuine family contact made through a platform.
The cheque fraud element that characterises many caregiver scams is well-suited to email delivery because the formal process of receiving and acknowledging a payment cheque feels appropriately professional in an email context.
How this scam works on email
An email arrives from an apparent family or domestic staffing agency describing a caregiving or nanny vacancy. The correspondence is formal and detailed: the family's location, the care recipient's needs, the schedule, and an above-market salary. An email interview exchange follows, creating a plausible hiring narrative.
Before the first day of work, the employer sends a cheque described as an advance on salary, a supply allowance, or a relocation payment. The value exceeds the stated purpose and the caregiver is asked to keep their portion and send the balance via wire transfer or gift card to a named party — described as a previous carer, a supply vendor, or an administrative contact.
The cheque bounces days later. The funds forwarded are unrecoverable. The employer's email address becomes unresponsive.
Common red flags
- Email job offer describes a caregiving role with above-market pay and vague or inconsistent family details
- Entire hiring process conducted by email without a video call or in-person meeting
- Advance payment cheque sent before the job starts with instructions to forward part of the funds
- Cheque amount is higher than explained, requiring the caregiver to send the difference to a third party
- Agency or family cannot be verified through independent contact details
- Urgency to start immediately without a standard background check or reference process
How to protect yourself
- Insist on a video call and in-person meeting before accepting any caregiving role
- Never accept advance cheques from employers you have not independently verified
- Understand that any request to forward part of a received cheque is always a sign of overpayment fraud
- Wait the full clearing period — typically five or more business days — before treating any deposited cheque as cleared funds
- Use established domestic staffing agencies with physical offices and verifiable operations
How to report it
- Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov or Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk
- Notify your bank immediately if a fraudulent cheque was deposited
- Report the email to your email provider as phishing
Frequently asked questions
I already deposited the cheque and sent part of it by wire transfer — what should I do?
Contact your bank immediately to explain the situation, since the cheque will very likely bounce once it fully clears, and you may be liable for the amount you withdrew and forwarded. Report the fraud to your bank's fraud team and to national reporting bodies as soon as possible, even though wired funds are often not recoverable.
How long should I wait before treating a deposited cheque as real money?
Banks often show a cheque as 'available' well before it has actually and fully cleared, which can take five or more business days depending on the bank and cheque type. Never send money onward based on funds simply appearing in your account balance — wait for your bank to confirm the cheque has fully cleared.
Is it reasonable to ask a family for a video call before accepting a caregiving job offered by email?
Yes, this is a completely reasonable request and any genuine family or agency will accommodate it without hesitation. Treat reluctance to do a video call, or insistence on proceeding entirely by email, as a significant warning sign.
Why do employers send cheques before the caregiving job starts?
In the legitimate care industry advance payments are not standard. A cheque sent before a first day of work is virtually always the setup for cheque overpayment fraud, where the caregiver is asked to forward part of the funds and then bears the liability when the cheque bounces.