Hi Kidz, I'm back!!
Isn't that wonderful. Perhaps that depends mostly on your point of
view, ah nevermind we are here, aren’t we. Things here are not all
that rosy as my beautiful secretary is leaving us. So this would be
her swansong on the blog. The blog might never be the same without her, what a pity. Here is wishing her every good
fortune & lots of happiness and prosperity wherever she takes
herself.
OK here is little
something I need to tell you all who are looking for Nanny /
Child-care jobs in UK and some other European destinations. In short,
beware what you are doing and who you are dealing with coz it could
be a scam! At length its a Tale of Two Cities. The cities of London,
UK, and Manila in Philippine.
Recently an
acquaintance of ours came here, and boy was she bouncing with joy. She
had landed this very lucrative nanny job in UK. She had long email communications with her UK boss, and they (host family) sounded very nice. They were kind enough to concede some grounds for
her convenience and they even sent pics of these two gorgeous kids she
will be looking after, and pictures of family home, her room, etc. The host/employer family husband was handling all the emails
and she was invited to call him on his personal mobile number if she
wanted to know anything. They sent her a copy of the contract
which was nicely set with very agreeable conditions.
Once she had agreed to
the job, they asked her to contact an Agency which handles the matter
for them. This agency will do visa invitations,
Home Office approvals, and everything. Despite of her vivacity to be there
with them lovely kids and all, it's my business to be thorough with
all the paperwork here. So I went through the emails (which were OK
really) and then there was this last email which asked her to contact this Agency in UK. Now there was something very fishy there. The email
ran “.. inform them its Moor family nanny..”. One look at that
line and warning bells went off in my mind. Who the f&%k do they
think they are, these Moors, with their common surname to have a
reference with that? Now this was very odd, no agency I know in UK
gives your name as reference in these matters. So I asked her if they
sent her a file number or something as the reference at Agency and
she returned in negative. This is odd, I told her, but made a mental
note to peruse emails more carefully. Lo and behold, they were
riddled with spellings and grammar mistakes and number of
discrepancies would have a defence lawyer in a murder case
laughing all the way to the bank.
Well, its a long story.
But to cut it short they had offered her a wage packet of over £35,000
per year and only six days of work plus the use of telephone and an
LED TV in her room! A brain surgeon in UK will be getting much less
than that salary and I knew that no one can afford (nor will pay)
this money for a simple child-care girl. Oh, they might, if their
kids she had to tackle were Damien the Devil Child in “The Omen” -
and the Moor children did not look least like beloved children of
Satan. So there was no way this could be happening. So I tried to
look deeper into this “Agency” which handles the hiring for the
“Moor family”. They have their own website which has extensive
details of their services, team members, fees, testimonials, ah oh,
and a picture of their office in London... Well, they had everything.
Except for two minor pieces of information: Namely a COMPLETE UK
ADDRESS WITH STREET NUMBER & FULL POST CODE, and A LAND LINE
PHONE NUMBER. Later it seemed that they actually do not have a UK
BANK ACCOUNT. Their bankers were based in Manila, Philippine. Yeah,
that place where you could buy an under-aged virgin for $150, and
that was where these guys had their bank account, despite of being a
UK company.
So I told her that this was not a real job offer. This is an internet scam to get your money. there is no real visa or a job here to go to UK. Fortunately she got it quickly and did not send them any money. Lucky girl!
My advice :
If you are looking for
ANY job in UK/Europe first check what people are actually paid for
that occupation. If your offered salary is more than what citizens of
that country are getting then its not a real job.
If any host/sponsor
indicated your job has a part like WORKING WITH CHILDREN, DRIVING,
DEALING WITH BANKS, then be very careful as in UK these things are
regulated by government. You need clearance for working with kids,
need a license to drive a car, etc. These people might not be telling
you the truth.
If you are asked to
contact, or make a payment to, or to deal with, an agency – make
sure that this agency has a Land Phone Number which you could call. A
mobile phone number is certainly a fake. Do not trust them.
The sponsor / host AND
the agency must have a UK full address, a UK bank account, a UK
registration number, and an official UK based email address. Gmail,
Yahoo, Hotmail email addresses are not to be trusted.
The embassy or High
Commission of that country where you live maybe able to help you if
you are in doubt. Do not hesitate to call them if you feel unsafe in
any part of the deal. If your intentions are honest, there is no need
to run away from the embassy! Call them.
If the sponsor or
agency ask you to make any payment, then be very careful. This
is most likely an internet scam. Do not be deceived by pictures of
children / or offices. Type their address on Google and see if you
can see them on Google-Earth satellite photo! Write a letter to their address with your contact details and see if you get a reply.If they do not say they got your letter - Stop it, these people are fakes.
We hope this would help
you to find your way through millions of internet scammers who are
out there to get some of your hard earned money. If you had been a
victim of these people, please do come out and share your experience
so someone else may be saved.
Thanks & have a nice day
and Thank You Much Much Much.... my outgoing secretary. You turned many gloomy days here into halcyon days, and you shall be bitterly missed.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
