Leslie Horn had her whole plan figured out.

As a 36-year-old Richmond mother, she already had experience working with children. The Richmond Register classified advertisement said the only pre-requisite for the $700/week nanny job was that the right candidate “must love kids.”

Of course, that was no problem.

If the nanny company wanted references, they could talk to her kids’ teachers to find out what great kids they are and how well they are doing in school, she said.

“I just had it all down,” Horn said. “I thought, man, if I could get $700 a week for what I’m doing now, how perfect would that be?”

Horn already had visions of caring for the 3-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy who needed a nanny — running errands for the family, doing light housework, all with her own kids in tow. She even talked to a friend who encouraged her on Sunday morning to get her name out there as soon as possible for such a great opportunity.

But it wasn’t long after Horn gave her credit card number to the company that she began to realize something wasn’t right, she said.

$10 charge

The advertisement directed interested nannies to call 1-678-318-3650 — a Georgia phone number. After the first ring, an answering machine picks up with a friendly man’s voice.

“Hi,” it says. “If you’re responding to the ad in the paper, we’re looking for an energetic, fun-loving individual that can perform light housekeeping, can drive and most of all loves children. The salary is $700 per week and upon review of an application, we would call you in for an interview. You may apply immediately for this position at www.wonderfulnanny.com.”

Horn followed the message’s directions to the Web site, which identifies the company as Rodney J. Murphy and Associates and claims, “We guarantee a perfect match.” A link on the left-hand side of the page directs those looking for employment to a new page, identifying the company as a “professional nanny placement” service serving the United States and Canada. A single job opportunity is listed with no details about where the job is located.

At the bottom of the page, a new link takes job seekers to a PayPal account, where they are asked to give up personal information along with their credit card numbers to pay a $10 — purportedly refundable — registration fee.

“Once I put in my credit card number, it just asked for like my name, phone number, address — it looked just like a job application,” Horn said. “It asked for references, how long I’ve known them and their addresses and phone numbers.”

The application asked if Horn would be willing to do housekeeping and errand running for extra money.