Care.com: Multiple Deaths and Child Abuses, Fraudulent Billing, and a Harvey Weinstein Babysitter

25 min readJun 11, 2018

Care.com is the largest babysitting platform in the U.S., their largest shareholder is Google, their CEO advised President Obama, and they have facilitated at least five deaths and dozens of child abuse crimes. I first heard of Care.com after my friend received death threats from scammers on the site. In the eleven months since then I have launched an investigation into Care.com and what I found is troubling:

· Care.com approved babysitters are linked to the deaths of at least five children (two of these babysitters had prior criminal histories, another was operating an unlicensed daycare)

· Care.com babysitters have repeatedly abused children

· Care.com’s caregiver screening appears to be nonexistent. For example, I was able to sign up and apply to babysitting jobs as Harvey Weinstein:

(I was later upgraded to Care.com’s second highest level of authenticity)

· Care.com’s background checks have approved convicted felons, prostitutes, and people on probation

· Scamming is common on Care.com and some babysitters have received death threats

· Care.com bills users for unused services and repeatedly bills customers after they cancel their accounts

· I believe Care.com creates fake “parents”/job opportunities so babysitters will upgrade so they can apply to nonexistent jobs

· Care.com sells user data to advertisers. This is buried 7,000 words deep in its privacy policy and is not disclosed to investors.

· I believe Care.com’s key investor metrics are incorrect. Care.com claims to have over 9 million U.S. babysitters, but its own search feature suggests a number 80% lower. In addition, web traffic to Care.com is declining while it claims 100%+ user growth and Care.com’s numbers have other inconsistencies.

· Care.com quietly acquired a staffing company in California. Without this acquisition I believe Care.com’s revenue growth would be negative.

· After I signed up as Harvey Weinstein and tweeted out a photo of Care.com’s safety loopholes, Care.com’s CTO, David Krupinski, called my college and said I was manipulating the market for Care.com stock. He sold $700,000 in stock over the next three days.

· Over 1,000 pages of consumer complaints against Care.com regarding unauthorized billing, safety concerns, and fake check scams are summarized and available at the very end of this report

· If you have information on Care.com please contact me at edwin@585research.com

· Disclaimer: I am personally betting against Care.com stock.

Safety

Care.com babysitters are linked to the deaths of at least five children. On any large platform, unfortunate incidents will occur, but what makes Care.com particularly troubling is that babysitters often have prior criminal histories when they register on Care.com. Four of the five deaths related to Care.com babysitters are below:

1. Care.com babysitter Sarah Gumm was convicted of murder and sentenced to 23 years in jail for beating a 3-month-old to death. Prior to registering on Care.com she had two DUIs, a “battery incident,” and a felony charge — all of which went undetected by Care.com’s background check.

2. Care.com babysitter Sarah Cullen was convicted of murder and sentenced to 70 years in jail for killing a 4-month-old child. She had a DUI prior to registering on Care.com.

3. Care.com babysitter Aisling McCarthy Brady had no prior criminal history prior to registering on Care.com, but had overstayed her visa. A one-year-old died in her care. She was found not guilty in a criminal charge, but the family was later awarded $4 million in a new lawsuit.

4. An unnamed Care.com babysitter had a child die in her care. It is unclear what happened to the babysitter, but she was running an unlicensed daycare while advertising on Care.com.

5. (There is a fifth publicly disclosed case around June 2011 that I decline to identify out of respect for the family.)

Care.com’s lack of oversight is not limited to the above. In November 2012 NBC Chicago did an investigation into Care.com’s background checks. They found Care.com approved a woman convicted on several counts of prostitution and Care.com approved a man convicted of reckless conduct. Care.com said, “we are deeply disturbed by these findings.”

In March 2015, a family hired Care.com babysitter Ann Guadagnino, only to discover she was a drug addict that had been charged with possession of heroin, possession of drug paraphernalia and was issued summonses for speeding and driving while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance. Care.com said, “There is no centralized database encompassing all criminal convictions … therefore, [databases we use are] sometimes missing or omitting recent criminal record charges.”

In December 2015 the Boston Globe launched an investigation into Care.com babysitter Stephanie Lee Fox after she stole $280,000. A Boston Globe review “found 28 criminal cases against Fox, which included 111 charges… Fox was convicted of numerous charges including larceny, identity fraud, forgery, and receiving stolen property.” The Boston Globe also found Ms. Fox “was still on probation when she registered as a nanny on Care.com.” Care.com said, “The safety of our community is of paramount importance to us.”

On March 2018, Care.com babysitter Jonathan Tavara-Nima was sentenced to 25 years for raping a seven-year-old girl he met on Care.com. Care.com said his account “would be removed and blacklisted.” Care.com didn’t mention that he had been arrested for child pornography charges five years earlier.

Despite numerous abuses by Care.com babysitters, coverage almost always stops at the local news level. Below are just a sampling of stories on abuse by Care.com babysitters:

Harvey Weinstein Babysitter

To test the security of Care.com I decided to apply as Harvey Weinstein. I was asked for a home address and birthdate. In both cases I did not use Harvey Weinstein’s actual home address or birthdate. I was also asked to consent to a background check. At the end of the process I was told, “Your profile has been submitted and is being reviewed for approval (within the next 72 hours) by our member care team.” To my amazement I passed Care.com’s review process. After adding a bogus Facebook and Twitter account (each with 0 friends/followers) I started applying to babysitting jobs.

I successfully applied to multiple Care.com babysitting jobs as Harvey Weinstein:

If Care.com had a human screen the profiles or just verified house addresses, names, or birthdays (very easy) this would not happen. Based on my experience it looks like anyone can sign up as a Care.com babysitter under whatever name they want.

It gets worse. Care.com has three levels of babysitters: Newcomer, CareForce, and CarePro. Care.com was so convinced I was legitimate, my Harvey Weinstein profile was able to join the “CareForce” meaning I would show up in search results:

I was also able to get CPR and First Aid certified without providing any evidence[1].

This is not an isolated incident. In one case an Atlanta family hired the Care.com babysitter “Regina Christopher” to watch their 8-year-old son. However, “Regina Christopher was really Gina Groves, who had warrants out for her arrest in four Georgia counties for various charges.”

According to the article, when [the family] spoke to someone at Care.com, the representative noted that she’d only paid for “one of the cheaper background checks.”

When criticized on its safety procedures Care.com claims to be just a “marketplace” for caregivers. However, the word “marketplace” does not appear once on its homepage. In its legal filings, Care.com claims to do “basic caregiver screening” on all users and offers background checks on individual caregivers for extra cost. But what type of “caregiver screening” wouldn’t catch Harvey Weinstein? Or, at minimum, verify a name? Or check a sex offenders list? What type of background check wouldn’t catch DUIs? Or Felonies? Or a woman on probation? Or a convicted prostitute?

Scammers & Death Threats

Legitimate Care.com babysitters who sign up for the site often encounter scammers and some even receive death threats. The most common type of scam on Care.com is a fake check scam. Scammers pretend to be parents on Care.com and post a job for babysitters. The scammer says they are about to move to the area and send a fake check for to a caregiver as a first month’s payment. Then, the scammer “changes plans” and asks for the check back hoping the babysitter will send a real check before her bank realizes the original check is fake (takes 5–7 days). Below is a police report from a fake check scam where the babysitter ultimately received a death threat:

(Source: San Antonio Police Department Public Records Request)

I first heard of Care.com after my friend had a similar experience and went to the police to deal with the death threats. Others online have complained about similar incidents:

“My daughter applied for a dog-sitting job that was a total scam- she wound up getting threats that someone would “slice her up” if she didn’t cash a fraudulent check. No help from care.com, but we did go to the police.” — July 2017 (Source)

“I started receiving death threats to my cell phone, the sender had my HOME ADDRESS. I still lock the doors, terrified, every night. The care.com team did nothing but send an automated, impersonal response to my complaint.” — July 2017 (Source)

Many other Care.com users had similar experiences with scammers, but without death threats:

(Source: Massachusetts Attorney General Public Records Request)

(Source: Illinois Attorney General Public Records Request)

I received these complaints by sending public records requests to state attorney generals. You can find over 50 similar complaints at the very end of this report.

Overbilling & Selling User Data

Parents and caregivers can join Care.com for free, but most of the platform requires upgrading to paid one, three, or twelve-month subscriptions. Once the subscription term expires Care.com “auto-renews” the plan until the user cancels. This practice has generated 100s of complaints (which you can find at the very end of this report) but is generally permissible and practiced by other businesses — like gyms and software companies. What is troubling is that Care.com has repeatedly billed users after they canceled their subscriptions. One women had such difficulty getting Care.com to stop billing her that she wrote a letter to Care.com’s CEO and the Massachusetts Attorney General asking that her account be closed and to stop being billed. She also claims that after she closed her credit card account Care.com began charging her husband’s credit card without any authorization:

(Source: Public Records Request to Massachusetts Attorney General)

Complaints about billing after cancellation are common. You can see three more complaints below and you can find dozens more of similar complaints at the very end of this report.

(Source: Public Records Request to Illinois Attorney General)

Care.com also sells user data to advertisers. I found this after Care.com sent the Michigan Attorney General an internal screenshot of a user’s email preferences on an unrelated matter. Highlighted in red, “share information about me with third party communication facilitators so they may send me direct mail solicitations on behalf of other companies”:

(Source: Public Records Request to Michigan Attorney General)

Care.com never mentions selling user data during its sign-up process, or in its investors filings, or in its terms of use. (At 13,482 words Care.com’s terms of use is twice the length of the U.S. Constitution.) The one place Care.com does briefly mention sharing user data is at the very end of its 7,244 words Privacy Policy: “We may use third-party communications facilitators working on behalf of Care.com to send you marketing communications from third party advertisers that we think may be of interest to you.” (These are words 7,162 to 7,190 of its 7,244 word Privacy Policy — the very end.) Some data Care.com gathers on users is number of children in a household, gender of children, age range of children, and general data on wealth (e.g., the pay range you offer sitters).

Fake Accounts

I believe Care.com may be creating fake accounts to entice users to pay money so they can upgrade and apply to nonexistent jobs. I want to be clear: I do not have proof Care.com is faking job postings, however numerous complaints online and to state attorney generals reference fake jobs postings and Care.com’s CEO previously worked for a company accused of creating fake job opportunities.

Below are just some complaints people sent to their state attorney generals alleging fake job postings (you can see more complaints at the very end of this report):

Here are some complaints from users online about fake jobs on Care.com:

“After two months of paying for premium membership and contacting dozens of “employers” I didn’t receive a single response and realized that those job ads were all fake. Dating sites use the same tactics. They create fake profiles that are too good to be true to encourage people to subscribe.” — February 2015 (Source)

“I believe Care.com has set up fake accounts with no families to respond back. I set up an alias account to respond to and vice versa and what do you know… no messages went through and both accounts were taken down with no explanation…” –April 2017 (Source)

“Fake Profiles and Job Postings!!! I just started using their services about 3 weeks ago and I’ve applied to MANY positions and only heard back from 2 individuals. The rest never replied and don’t appear to have even looked at my profile (there is a tab where you can check who has viewed your profile). Is each job posting getting so many applications that the users don’t even bother looking at some applicants? I find this doubtful.” –February 2016 (Source)

“I feel like the site is a farce and that many of the ‘adverts’ are fake and aimed at certain postcodes in order to get people to buy credits and apply. Avoid” –May 2017 (source)

“I think there are a lot of bogus jobs advertised on the site. Can’t prove it but when you apply for over 50 and get 0 responses, something’s up.” — October 2017 (Source)

Before founding Care.com, founder/CEO Sheila Marcelo worked at TheLadders.com, a pay-to-join job site accused of faking job profiles:

I did not find any convictions of TheLadders.com for improper conduct, but I view the extreme amount of complaints against the TheLadders as a negative. Please note that Care.com CEO Sheila Marcelo was not accused of any wrongdoing, but she was VP and General Manager at TheLadders.

Misleading Investors

I believe Care.com mispresents its key user metrics and barely disclosed a recent acquisition that is its real source of growth.

One of Care.com’s key investor metrics is the number of caregivers on its platform. In its 2017 investor presentation Care.com claimed to have “9.2 million U.S. caregivers.” To test this claim I used Care.com’s own search tool to see how many caregivers are in each of the 25 biggest U.S. cities. The top 25 U.S. cities have about 10% of the U.S. population so you would expect them to have about 10% of Care.com’s U.S. caregivers. As a result, my search should yield about 920,000 profiles, but I found less than 1/5 that amount:

I believe this is strong evidence that Care.com’s U.S. caregiver base is well below the 9.2 million claimed in its investor presentation.

There are other inconsistencies in Care.com’s user metrics dating back to its IPO offering documents:

Alexa analytics for Care.com’s website shows only 2.7 million unique visitors for May 2018, down from the 6.3 million+/month Care.com claimed in 2013. Maybe Care.com’s “unique visitors” declined over 50% over the last 5 years, but that would seem to contradict Care.com’s 100%+ growth in users:

(Source: Slide 19 of Care.com’s most recent investor presentation)

This slide is the bull thesis on Care.com. Who wouldn’t want to own a company growing 60% per year? But there is overwhelming evidence it is misleading. Using Care.com’s own search feature suggests less than 2 million caregivers vs Care.com’s claimed 11.8 million. If you believe that Care.com has 15.5 million families that would represent nearly 60% of families with children under 12 in the U.S. If there are only 3 million jobs posted how can you have 15.5 million families? How can user metrics be growing rapidly while web traffic is declining? Note that all four CAGRs listed in the above chart are overstated using Care.com’s own data. For example, the growth in job applications (top right) went from 1.1 million to 62.8 million from 2008 to 2017. Care.com’s stated CAGR is 66%, when it is actually 57%.

Also, on slide 5 of its most recent investor presentation, Care.com claimed to make “1 match every 3 minutes.” This I down from “we make a care match about once every two minutes” Care.com’s co-founder said in 2014. But if Care.com is growing so fast why would matches become less frequent?

Town & Country acquisition (no press release, no website update, 100% of revenue growth?)

I believe Care.com quietly acquired a staffing company and without this acquisition revenue growth would be negative. According to page 94 of its 2017 10-K: “On January 9, 2018, we entered into an agreement with Town & Country Resources, Inc. … we acquired certain assets for total potential consideration of $6.9 million.”

Based on my research, Care.com put out no press release for the Town & Country acquisition, it was not mentioned in their investor presentation, and the Town & Country website makes no mention of a relationship with Care.com. However, Care.com did mention the acquisition in its quarterly earnings call and in its SEC filings.

Staffing companies are unique in that they typically have high amounts of revenue relative to their market value. A typical publicly traded staffing company trades at about 1/3 revenue. Using this metric alone implies that Town & Country has annual revenue around $21 million ($7million*3). In its Q1 press release Care.com said, “Revenue for the first quarter of 2018 was $47.3 million, an increase of 9% from $43.4 million in the first quarter of 2017.” This is revenue growth of $3.9 million ($47.3-$43.4=$3.9 million). But it is perfectly possible that Care.com’s Town & Country acquisition added more than $3.9 million in revenue. In fact, my basic math implies Town & Country has quarterly revenue of $5.25 million. This means Care.com’s organic revenue is actually declining! (Headline growth of $3.9 million — acquisition related growth of $5.25 million = organic decline of $1.35 million.)

Financial Analysis (Over $10 million in insider sales, Less than $15,000 in buys)

The last time a Care.com insider bought CRCM stock was in June 2016 when a board member bought $13,000. Over the last two years Care.com insiders sold over $10 million in stock. Why so much insider selling and no buying? I believe it’s because Care.com’s consumer business is starting to decline and Care.com executives know it.

In 2013, Care.com’s revenues grew 68%. In 2014, revenues grew 36%. In 2015, revenues grew 25%. In 2016, revenues grew 17%. In 2017, revenues grew 8%. In Q1 2018 revenue “grew” 9% (but without the acquisition I estimate revenues actually declined 3%). This is very problematic because analysts are projecting aggressive revenue growth going forward (Needham, the most bullish, predicts 10.3% revenue growth in 2018, and 13.1% in 2019). Absent any new acquisitions I do not see how Care.com will make those estimates.

One option for Care.com would be raising prices. But Care.com already raised subscription prices nearly 30% in mid-2016 and the competition is becoming more aggressive. Sitterycity is even on pricing with Care.com, charging $140/year, and newer competitor UrbanSitter charges only $100/year. (It’s also worth noting that according to Alexa Web Analytics UrbanSitter and Sittercity both have increasing web traffic over the last year, while Care.com is declining).

Above all else, Care.com users do not like the product. According to the online review site SiteJabber Care.com has 1.2 stars from 1,179 reviews and on review site HighYa Care.com has 1.1 stars from 57 reviews. (SitterCity has 2.4 stars from 16 reviews on SiteJabber, and UrbanSitter has 2.8/10 from TrustPilot).

Care.com stock is up over 300% over the last 26 months for one reason: Google. Over the last 26 months, I believe Care.com’s fundamentals have deteriorated, revenue growth is slowing, consumer reviews are still bad, yet the stock is up 300%+ because Google Capital did a preferred stock deal with Care.com in June 2016.

Google is not just the largest Care.com shareholder. According to page 92 of Care.com’s 2017 10-K: “During fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2016, we recorded $1.9 million and $1.6 million of revenue from Care@Work arrangements with Alphabet Inc. and its affiliates, respectively. During fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2016, we incurred $12.3 million and $14.5 million of selling and marketing expenses for internet based marketing services with Alphabet Inc. and its affiliates, respectively.”

It is one thing to make an investment in a public company. But to make an investment in a public company, become a >1% customer, have Care.com join your “job search” feature, and have their advertising costs go down on your platform seems a little odd. (I have no evidence of wrongdoing by Google/Alphabet but I have never seen an arrangement like this.) It’s also worth noting that Google Capital has had failed investments in the past (e.g., Outcome Health and LendingClub).

Another indication that Care.com is in trouble is the large amount of insider selling. In September 2017 all four major executives (CEO, CFO, CTO, & General Counsel) created new 10b5–1 trading plans to dispose of Care.com stock. Below you can see the amount of stock sold in the 9 months since the plan was created compared to the sales in the 12 months before it was instituted.

The bottom line is you have a company customers dislike, that uses aggressive billing practices, that isn’t safe, and that is likely inflating important investor metrics. Quite simply, Care.com does not deserve to trade at four times revenue and 70x profit. I believe Care.com is desperate. That is why they did the Town & Country Acquisition. That is why they got very aggressive with their billing practices. That is why they cut corners. And that is why Care.com’s Co-founder and CTO called my college after I first wrote about Care.com.

First Report

On Monday October 30, 2017 I published a report on Scribd detailing some problems with Care.com. The stock fell 6%, but the report was not well distributed.

On Tuesday October 31, Care.com board member Tony Florence resigned, effective immediately. His VC fund NEA management sold all of its CRCM stock within 6 months. (Please note: I am not implying any wrongdoing by Mr. Florence or NEA management.)

Also, on Tuesday Care.com co-founder/CTO David Krupinski called my college (Stanford) about my article and said I was manipulating the market for Care.com stock.

On Wednesday David Krupinski sold 10,000 shares of CRCM stock (for ~$150,000). Later that day Care.com raised guidance for 2018 on their earnings call.

On Thursday Mr. Krupinski sold another 10,000 shares of stock.

On Friday Mr. Krupinski sold another 20,000 shares of stock.

Since October 30th 2017, David Krupinski has sold ~200,000 shares of CRCM stock for ~$4 million. (He now owns 200,000 shares).

I believe the above facts exemplify two points. First, most Care.com shareholders are not aware of the issues outlined in this report. That is why a board member resigned the day after my report and his VC firm sold all its CRCM stock. Second, Care.com knows they are in trouble. A legitimate company would ignore my report, issue a rebuttal, or contact me directly, but I have never heard of a company contacting a student’s college. Also, Mr. Krupinski’s stock sales were part of an automatic trading plan initiated in September 2017, however, he knew the stock sales were going to occur after he called my college and after Care.com raised its guidance.

Conclusion

I want to be clear about what this report is and isn’t. I believe that the perception of Care.com in the general public and public markets is wrong and I hope this report highlights why. Others will disagree with my view. I’m sure there are thousands of people who have used Care.com and liked it. Reports of abuse by Care.com babysitters have also declined in recent years (meaning Care.com may be improving their practices). That said, I believe the issues highlighted in this report are serious enough to be written publicly and I hope they are taken seriously.

“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” –Albert Einstein

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Disclaimer: I am personally betting against Care.com stock. You can follow me on twitter @BatmanResearch

[1] My Care.com profile was eventually taken down. Once you message a family on the Care.com platform they can flag you. I believe this is what happened.

[2] I used a zip code in the center of each city and did an unrestricted search for caregivers within a 10-mile radius.

Below are hyperlinks and summaries of the 1,000+ pages of consumer complaints against Care.com I obtained via public records requests. To help navigate the documents I have constructed the key below the summarizes the main point of each complaint and bolded complaints I felt were particularly egregious.

Massachusetts (167 Pages of records)

2–3 Fake check scam, Lost $1973.37

4–5, Care.com has called 10+ times asking person to leave review, CRCM won’t stop calling

6–7, Autobilling

8–9, closed account

10–11, Autobilling, never received emails

12–13 Canceled membership, was told wouldn’t be billed, but was billed $35

14–15, Autobilling, $175

16–17, Autobilling, $700, never notified

18–19, website does not specify up front that it is paid service

20–21, Autobilling

22–23, Fake check scam

24–25, Care.com continues to bill despite being asked to stop, info not redacted

26–27, Autobilling for 2 years, never received invoice “At what point does this kind of business model pass from unethical to illegal?”

28–29 Autobilling, thought he was signing up for free trial

30–31, Autobilling, lost $140

32–33, Autobilling $185

34–36, Autobilling, Though signed up for free account, instead billed $1,000+

37–38, Autobilling, 3 months

39–40, Autobilling, called and canceled twice, both times they said they cancelled but they kept billing her for two years

41–42, Autobilling, $195 overcharge

43–44, Autobilling, $310

45–46, unautoroized charges

47–48, Autobilling

49–50, Autobilling, total of $827

51–52, Fake check

53–55, Autobilling

56–57, Fake check, college student lost $2850

58–59, Canceled account without reason

60–61, Fake check, lost $3,590

62–63, Fake check, lost $2022

64–66, Autobilling, lost $553, detailed complaint against autobilling

67–68, Autobilling

69–70, Autobilling

71–73, Daughter was victim of fake check scam

74–75, Fake check scam (lost $3150.55?)

76–77, Autobilling $668 total (it looks like once Care.com raised fees Care.com began autobilling more)

78–79, Autobilling, says never received emails of new charges

80–81, Autobilling

82–83, Autobilling ($130)

84–85, Autobilling, cancelled account but was still billed for 18 months, never given receipts

86–87, says site does not make pet sitters follow law

88–89, Physical letter to attorney general on autobilling

90–91, Feels that Care.com fakes parents/job openings, very few parents have photos, rejections are worded similarly, “I feel these people are being made up”

92–93, handwritten complaint on autobilling ($79)

94–96, Autobilling, $390, “I feel like there should be a class action”

97–99, Mixed up identity and cancelled account

100–101, Fake check scam

102–103, Daughter signed up on Care.com to be dog sitter, but ended up in fake check scam

104–105, Fake check scam

106–107, Autobilling, emailed four times trying to cancel ($260)

108–109, Was told he canceled, but Care.com kept billing him

110–111, Worked on site for 8 years, then Care.com terminated her for driving violation in 1997

112–113, Fake check scam

114–115, Autobilling

116–117, Care.com agency refusing to give their tax ID, so woman can’t get tax expense refund

118–119, “They continued to charge my credit card for a membership that was cancelled in March by email, customer service,and then on their website — $196 …. Customer service contact twice to cancel because their cancellation submit button on the website did not appear to be working.” ($196) + failed background check

120–121, $300 charge from Care.com, but never signed up for their service or knew of them

122–124, “Leads me to believe that these “employers” are probably fake accounts setup by Care.com to deceive customers into thinking that there are legitimate jobs on their site and therefore pay (and/or continue to pay) for the monthly subscription costs.”

125–126, Bad vetting and unqualified caretakers

127–128, Posting false ads for caregivers and claiming to do Cori checks. Charging a fee for services.

129–130, Bad Care.com caretaker

131–132, $120 in unauthorized charges

133–134, Account suspended for old dismissed criminal charge

135–137, Autobilling, never received invoices

138–139, Kept billing after cancelling over phone ($360)

140–141, Autobilling

142–143, Does not have Care.com account but was charged $420 by Care.com

144–146, Can’t find a way to cancel

147–148, “They won’t allow us to cancel our account.”

149–150, “On May 3rd 2017, I received confirmation that I closed my account. Then on May 24th they charged me forservices that I cancelled”, cancelled account multiple times but stilled billed

151–152, “I have been trying for weeks to cancel my membership and all I get is the run around.”

153, Letter written to Care.com CEO Marcelo (Attorney General CC’d), billed for five years and even after cancelling credit card

154–155, “CCI*Care has been able to find my new card info each time and charge me. When I look online, I am not the only one with this problem.”

156–158, online complaint, claimed to do refund, but didn’t

159–161, $507 in autobilling

162–164, Autobilling, tried to cancel, but couldn’t ($270)

165, One Page letter to Attorney General, Autobilling, now receipt or notification

166–168, $59 unwanted/uninitiated charge from Care.com

Florida (51 pages of records)

1, Fake check scam

2, Miscellaneous

3, Filled out Care.com profile and never finished, Care.com gave phone number to scammers who are now contacting her

4, Fake check scam

5, Elder care agency on Care.com was not billing properly

6–22, bizarre email chain alleging RICO, mob ties, and conspiracy (99% sure it’s nothing)

23, Care.com has additional charges to message people after getting a background check

24, Fake check scam

25, Possible scam, Care.com did not take action

26, Can’t pass Care.com’s background check after getting married and changing name

27, someone using phone number and address of his old business on Care.com for odd purposes

28, Follow up to complaint on page 26

29, Fake check scam

30, Fake check scam

31, “Please identify this Website as dangerous for young women,” person received very suspicious job offer (likely fake check scam)

32, Autobilling, though she cancelled, but was still charged

33, “I have never done business with this company. I have never spoken to this company. this is a fraudulent charge to my bank account. I have tried to contact care.com and their number is not answered just goes dead when it rings.”

34–40, email chain about fake check scam

41–43, email chain about autobilling

44–46, Daughter was almost victim of fake check scam

47–50, Fake check scam

51, Likely fake check scam

Georgia (31 pages of records)

1–2, Fake check scam

3–6, Fake check scam

7–9, Tried cancelling multiple times, but was stilled billed. Also, “I fear for the safety of child care services.”

10–11, Daughter’s background check comes back for wrong person

12–13, Fake check scam

14, Fake check scam

15, “She feels he is using this website to get people’s personal info.” — unclear

16, Autobilling

17, Fake check scam

18–19, Miscellaneous

20–21, Fake check scam (lost $1980)

22, Miscellaneous

23–25, Fake check scam

26–27, Fake check scam

28–31, Fake check scam

Illinois (48 pages of records)

1, Fake check scam

2–3, Autobilling

4, Care.com gave email address to scammer, fake check scam (lost $1,630)

5, Fake check scam

6–11, Autobilling ($560)

12–13, Fake check scam, also Care.com gave out personal info

14–35, Fake check scam (with evidence of texts and emails)

36, “randomly saw a complaint from another customer stating this and quickly logged in 1- 2 days after I signed up and cancelled my account so after the month of service was up it would automatically cancel and I wouldn’ t be charged. I even took a screen shot of the cancellation and emailed It to myself.” Autobilling

37–39, Fake check scam (with emails and texts)

40–43, Fake check scam (with photos of FedEx package)

44, “I cancelled my subscription over the phone. However they have been continuing to charge my credit card to date. … I would like to have $360 refunded to me. This is fraud.” Autobilling ($360)

45, Fake check scam

46–47, Fake check scam

48, Autobilling ($78)

Texas (35 Pages of Records)

1, Autobilling

2, Autobilling

3–4, Man complains Care.com withdrew $37.89, but he never signed up or knew of company (Total $719.91)

5–6, “As a result of an error by Care.com, Mr. Sevier’s account was never activated, but Mr. Sevier nevertheless was charged.”

7–9, Letter to correct fact Care.com misspelled Sevier’s first name

10–15, Care.com online complaints

16–17, “I attempted to cancel my subscription online to care.com but was meet with “time out” failures on my computer for several days….” Talked to Care.com representative that said account was canceled. …” Care.com fraudulently removed money from my account after I called to VERBALLY cancel when their website kept timing out. I want my money back.” (Autobilling $84)

18–20, Fake check scam

21, Fake check scam (lost $2,775)

22–25, Fake check scam

26–28, Autobilling

29–31, Suspended for bogus reason after 5 good years on Care.com

32–33, Supervisor never followed up despite promising to do so

34–35, “I would like for them to cancel my subscription and stop billing my credit card but believe they have purposely set up their website to prevent customers from doing it.” Canceled multiple times but still billed, Autobilling ($83.27)

New Mexico (21 Pages of Records)

1–2, Fake check scam

3–4, Different type of fake check scam

5–6, Daughter almost fell for fake check scam

7–8, Fake check scam

9–11, Fake check scam

12–15, Fake check scam

16–21, Likely fake check scam

North Carolina — — — Five separate complaints (45 pages total)

Reynolds (21 pages)

1–21, Incorrect background check by Sterling Infosystems led to wrongful termination by Care.com (includes Care.com response)

Littlejohn (6 pages)

1–6, Fake check scam

McConatha (5 Pages)

1–5, Fake check scam

Williams (4 Pages)

1–4, Fake check scam (lost $2,865)

Curtis (9 Pages)

Autobilling, tried to cancel multiple times, but still billed ($245)

Care.com gave response letter: Refunded the money, said she opened two accounts and it was confusing which one she canceled… ultimately refunded all the money requested**

Michigan — -2 Separate complaints

One made in 2015 (36 pages)

1–36, Fraudulent billing/autobilling, Care.com responds with letter: No refund except for last month

One made in 2013 (10 pages)

1–10, Fake check scam

Kansas (8 pages)

1–3, Physical letter response from Kansas to me

4–8, fake check scam (with copy of fake check)

Washington AG Part 1 (207 Pages of Records — poorly organized)

1–2, Introduction

5, keep billing without authorization even after canceling

12, Care.com email response to AG

31–33, evidence of overbilling

34–37, Care.com response (no refund)

61, Identity theft/information sold, never signed up for Care.com

84–85, Care.com response

102, Autobilling ($1,560) — wants $1,500 refund

140–142, Care.com response (full refund?)

146, 3 years of autobilling

166–169, Care.com response ($741 refund)

188, Fake check scam

202–203, Care.com response

207, Fake check scam

Washington AG Part 2 (106 Pages of Records — poorly organized)

26, Care.com billed even after cancelling account (total of $1238.30)

48–50, Care.com response (refund $1,153.98)

53, Denied listing on care.com

58–59, Fake check scam

64, Fake check scam (lost $2,000)

88–89, Care.com response, disowns responsibility