"Dan Conovan" found my contact information on care.com. I received a text message to email him. I emailed him with a serious interest in giving childcare services part-time. "Dan Conovan" then shared excessive information about himself. i.e. He lost his wife and was moving from Nevada.
"Dan" told me he and his daughter would stay in a hotel in my area while he transitioned for his job. He proceeded to tell me he would mail a check and instructed me to keep some of it and use the rest for toys for his daughter. Although he tried to sound professional, I noticed some of his english was incorrect.
One of the questions he had for me that really tipped me off was "Are you married?". That is entirely irrelevant to childcare. That is a personal question that scared me and made me wonder if he was some kind of offender. Below I have copy and pasted his initial response to my email per his request to contact.
"Thanks for your swift response, I have to get somethings done. Emily is 3 years old, she is a great kid and easy to get along with. She is a sweet, loving girl who loves to swim, play, be outside, go to parks, go on walks and just have fun. She is very bright, engaging, and love to explore her surroundings. she is potty trained, free eater, well cultured, very well behaved and well mannered and she is not allergy to food or anything, I Iost her mother last year that's why am looking for someone who will be caring, kind, and patient with Emily cause she all i have, It is a wonderful Full Time work Monday to Friday Per week. I will be dropping her off in the morning by 9:00am and will pick her up by 2:00pmor in the evening by 5:00pm to 11:00pmbecause I can decide to shift my duty to afternoon; if you can't work the hours you can work during the weekend while I get someone else to do this hours. I just got an appointment with Shell Petroleum Company, I and my daughter will be lodging in an hotel around you pending the time i find a home to live. You can babysit her in the hotel or I drop her if you want me (let me know your preferred option). I will be very happy if you can let me know your charges per hour and I also want you to get back to me with your total estimate for a month, so as to have you booked and secured prior to my arrival, as we are rounding off plans and allotting money to issues that should be settled prior to our arrival. The time frame is within the Nov 28thtill 2017. This offer is for someone of well mannered attitudes, neatness and good sense of relationship, so if you are interested in this offer, please answer all my questions below:
1) Are you married?
2) Do you have any special attitude?
3) Do you have a valid driver’s license?
4) How old are you ?
5) Do you have any crime records?
6) Do you have an open availability?
7) What are your charges per hour?
8) What are your likes and dislikes in kids?
Thank you for your time.
Regards
Dan"
Here is the second email I received from "Dan".
Thanks for your swift response, i have also gone through the information you sent and it works for me. I'm very sure you will enjoy working with Emily, my daughter don't have any habits and i know She'll stay with a new sitter easily. Regarding the fee, I have agreed to offer you $12 50 per hour as you requested so far you assure me that Emily will get the best care from you.
Just like I told you in my previous email, We are moving down to the new area due to the nature of my Job,i have a new 1 year contract that i will be doing in your area,that is why i am moving down and that is why i need your help with my daughter,We are coming down from NEVADA,so we don't have any relatives or family in your area,that means you can come and take care of her in my house,or if you think you are comfortable by taking care of her in your house,that is Ok by me as well,so you are free to decide on where you want to have her.
I also want to inform you that I will send you some money for Emily toys and other baby items plus $300 for you as your upfront payment, so you can forward the money for Emily toys to the store manager. The store manager will send you the toys and the items before our arrival so that you can put everything in place prior to our arrival, The store manager will be sending a car seat and some toys because she has special toys she love and admire so much.
About the store manager part,the store is a local store here in NEVADA and that is where we always get stuff for our kids in my company, they do have all what every kids want,but unfortunately the store has relocated and move out of NEVADA to somewhere in Dallas TX ,so now it is always hard for me to just walk into the store and get what i want,but i do have the store manager email address,so i have emailed him already before now and he said as soon as they receive the payment they are going to get everything done and ship them out,so now, i have all the list of the toys, that is why i want you to handle that part of items before our arrival ,so am going to send a copy of the list to him and also send to you too so that you can check them out as soon as the toys arrival, i hope you understand everything about the store manager,
About the toys, you are going to be receiving a check from my company accountant and as soon as you receive the check you are to take it to your bank and deposit it and as soon as the cash is available in your account,you are to keep $300 for yourself as your up front payment, remember, the $300 is for your upfront payment and also to ignore further contacts from anyone cause you have a secured job and the rest of the funds is for Emily's toys and other baby items that the store manager will be shipping out to you prior our arrival. I believe you understand this ?
I would really love to have a better conversation with you on the phone instead of sending emails every time,but i just had a ear surgery done a week ago and i was told not use phone or get close to anything that can make a noise to my ear, I am very sorry about this. that is why i can't call for now,so we are going to keep communicating for now via email or text, don't worry am always close to my email and phone until when we are going to arrive in your area
Please get back to me with your details...
Full Name :
Address ;
City :
State :
Zip Code :
Cell Number :
This is what am going to need so that i can forward it to the company accountant in other to issue out the payment to you as soon as possible, I believe you understand clearly what to do with the check as soon as you received it? I will be waiting for this information in other for me to get you booked upon our arrival.
Regards
Dan