Does this job sound like a scam?

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hi everyone,

i am a nursing student looking for work while i put myself through school. i saw an ad on craigslist (i have never used craigslist for anything, because i tend to believe most people are trying to scam) but i replied to the job anyway. the ad was looking for cna's in the texoma area, didn't give much information and gave an email to get more information for anyone who was interested. so, long story short, i sent a very general email (not giving any personal info besides my first name and general experience) and i received the below email as a reply. what do you all think? i'm pretty sure it's a scam and my husband says it is 100% a scam. it just doesn't sound right to me. especially asking where i live so he can move his sister close to me. i copied and pasted so this is the exact wording/spelling. any input is appreciated. thanks everybody!

here is the email:

re: requesting information about the cna job posting on craigslist.

message flagged

thursday, august 4, 2011 2:09 pm

message body

good day,

i have received your message. my sister will be coming from

fayetteville, north carolina and she will be moving on 15th of august

2011. she is 47 years of age. 175lbs ,5.8ft and speaks english

fluently.she is diabetic and hypertensive.we really need you to be

honest and trust worthy in this work. the work basis are below.

- you are to be checking on my sister 4 times in a week for proper

caring and to know about her well being.

- you will be earning $750 per week of handling this work properly.

- you will be handling her transportation to the hospital for proper

medical check up at least once in a month and if you don't know how to

drive, you will hire a car.

-- your working days will be mon,wednesday, friday and saturday.you

will have to decide the convenient hours during each of these days

which will not affect your other regular work(if you have any) as this

will be a part time work for you and if you want to live with her in

the house for other assistance there will be no problem.

so kindly provide me your full name and mailing address so that we can

ensure the housing agent get her an apartment which will be more

closer to your house and i hope about 10 miles will not be too far for

you.

also i'll will be paying you the first week wages upfront via a

certified check because you will help her to get some medical tools

like one touch basic machine,acu-check machine and test trips in any

nearest pharmacy store around.i need you to know that the funds for

those items needed would be added to your first week upfront pay on

the check and you would be instructed on what next to do once you

receive the check including the funds that would be sent to the

cashier of the realtor headquarter to secure her accommodation.

so i want you to feed me back with the following details so that we

can ensure you are ready for the work.

1. full name

2. mailing address,

3. city

4. state and zip code

5. phone number

6.age, sex and marital status.

i will be sending you her living address very soon so that you will

know where you will be working.i will give you her living address once

the rental agent find her a suitable house.

i will be awaiting your email soonest and we can proceed as you can

understand that the date is getting approach.

regards,

mr. jerry brown

Have you ever heard of the 'friend' who emails you that they are stuck in some foreign country w/ no money/passport and they need $200 and as soon as they get back to the states they will pay you back?

This exact thing happened to me! I actually ended up going back and fourth with the person! I started getting emails from one of my old travel nurse buddies (who I knew had gone out of the country) talking about being stranded in England after being robbed of her passport and not being able to settle up with the hotel & getting kicked out..Please help, Ill pay you when I get back etc.

The whole thing was strange and I never sent the money-- I got really frustrated because I thought my friend was just being stupid and not listening. Turns out someone had hacked her email.

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Specializes in hospice, HH, LTC, ER,OR.

Mr. brown sounds like he is going to open some credit cards in your name. RUN!

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Yep, scam.

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

If it gives you the heebie jeebies, then avoid it.

Did you know that humans are the only animals that don't follow their natural instinct to jet at the first sign of danger? We have the ability to reason, and so we rationalize our fears away...oftentimes painting ourselves into a corner.

We as a society have been drilled since birth about good manners and being polite. We are also ridiculed, kidded and labeled as paranoid when our friends see us using safe practice. Example:

My best friend lives in the country. She thinks nothing of leaving her windows open during the day (ok, I get that) but then does not lock them at night when she shuts them. She has a thumb lock on her front door, which has a large glass window right above the doorknob. I used to constantly remind her that she needs to get a deadbolt installed...she just laughed at me and called me paranoid. Her neighbors are about 100 yards away on each side.

Her old neighbors had moved away, and she hadn't met the new neighbors yet. One day when we were outside on the porch chatting with our husbands, this gangly guy with long stringy hair, long unkempt beard, mustache, no shirt, dirty jeans and a few teeth comes meandering over to join us. He was carrying a beer in each hand. He introduced himself as the new neighbor, and said that he came over to meet us since we were having a 'party'. This guy struck me as 'wrong' in so many ways. He immediately took over the conversation, telling us that he was this wealthy guy that just lost all of his money in the construction business and decided to move to the East Coast from Las Vegas to start another business. He came up with the most outlandish stories to try to impress us. Simply from observation, I could tell that this guy had done quite a few drugs in the past (and confirmed my suspicions when he asked us if we had any 'smack'. Who does that?!?!?), and looked like he might have been on meth (he had the classic meth mouth too). He kept making excuses to go into the house-he had to pee, or could he use the phone, or could he bum a beer, etc. When he left, I encouraged my friend to install that deadbolt, lock her doors at night and reinforce her basement door. She just laughed, said that he did strike her as kinda creepy, but that he was probably harmless and down on his luck.

A month later, she came home to a ransacked house. I have no doubt in my mind that her neighbor was the culprit. When I went over to her house a few hours later, the neighbor came over and his acting ability SUCKED. It was SO obvious.

The point of this (rather long) story is that she rationalized and explained away her initial gut feeling that this neighbor was creepy.

If you feel in your gut that this is a scam, it is. Don't ignore that feeling.

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Yeah....I rationalized my gut reaction away, all the way to a 6 hour rape/beating...all because of the 'be polite and helpful' messages. It's great to be helpful and want to trust people, but truth is, nobody is going to save you except you.... better to be rude and alive :) If it feels wonky, go with that- and by posting here, it shows doubt that this is ok -- listen to your gut :D

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Specializes in SICU.
Yeah....I rationalized my gut reaction away, all the way to a 6 hour rape/beating...all because of the 'be polite and helpful' messages. It's great to be helpful and want to trust people, but truth is, nobody is going to save you except you.... better to be rude and alive :) If it feels wonky, go with that- and by posting here, it shows doubt that this is ok -- listen to your gut :D

Omg!!! (((((xtxrn)))))

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Specializes in Pediatric and Adult OR.
Yeah....I rationalized my gut reaction away, all the way to a 6 hour rape/beating...

:eek::crying2:*big hugs*

OP - I was going to reply that it sounds like the Nigerian "please send money" scam e-mail, too. Please don't give this creepo any more of your time.

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my theory on craigslist is that anything and everything on it is a scam.

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Specializes in Pediatric and Adult OR.
my theory on craigslist is that anything and everything on it is a scam.

Not entirely true. I met a boyfriend and got a job through craigslist.

....Except both turned out crazy.

Neither of which were SCAMS, per se...the boyfriend didn't meet me at my home and kill me, and the job didn't do anything illegal, but they were both....dysfunctional. So I guess speaking from experience, it's probably best to avoid, though I don't think everything and everyone on there is bad.

My current boyfriend has a very nice couch from craigslist! :lol2:

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Specializes in Acute Spine, Neuro, Thoracic's, LTC.

This DEFIANTLY a scam!!! I responded to an apartment on on Craigslist once and there response email had very similar wording. Apparantly these people have a whole pile of different scams going on.

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Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.

Many thinking in my head telling me no good things coming fom this will.

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Specializes in Cath Lab/ ICU.
Yeah....I rationalized my gut reaction away, all the way to a 6 hour rape/beating...all because of the 'be polite and helpful' messages. It's great to be helpful and want to trust people, but truth is, nobody is going to save you except you.... better to be rude and alive :) If it feels wonky, go with that- and by posting here, it shows doubt that this is ok -- listen to your gut :D

I'm so sorry...

your comments remind me of a book that emphasizes the same thing...

http://www.amazon.com/Gift-Fear-Gavin-Becker/dp/0440226198

Every woman should read this book. It changed my life.

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