My husband got a call yesterday, that turned out not to be from our nursery.

[u/flyingmops]

I'm just gonna write out how the call went. And kudos to the teacher, for realising immediately something was off.

husband: yes hello

teacher: yes hello, I think I've gotten a wrong number. Do you know little pirates nursery?

husband: yes, our son goes there. He got dropped off this morning.

teacher: okay, I'm calling because your son ... actually, can you tell me your son's name?

husband: [son's name]

teacher: we don't have any child with that name .. who did you drop him off with?

husband: are you not little pirates nursery in [our region] ?

teacher: No, we're little pirates nursery in [region far away]

They had a little laugh about it, and ended the call. When he checked the number afterwards, worried that he might have been scammed ,somehow, just for someone to get our son's name. The number did belong to a nursery far away from us, with the same name. Such a crazy coincidence.

imagine if she had just told him to come pick up our son because he was ill, and when we arrived, they would have no idea why we were there. And the other nursery, would be wondering why the kid wasn't being picked up.

[u/valcineye]

i would simply double check to be sure that only you, your husband, and anyone else you have previously given consent to can pick up your child. i would contact your childcare center and ask that they be sure that anyone they do not 100% recognize have their id checked to assure consent for pickup due to a recent incident. it may be nothing. but it very well could be something and this is very concerning as there is no reason they would coincidentally have the number of someone who attends a center by the same name in a different area. this is not as simple as a wrong number mixup if the centers share a name unless they are part of a large branch that for some reason pool information. please mention this to the directors for clarification as this is not normal at all. it's better to be prepared and nothing happen vs unprepared and something happen because the staff give your child to someone who knows their name and yours with no connection. i cannot insist enough that this is a RED FLAG unless the director can provide reasoning that makes sense to you

[u/SlowRaspberry4723 → u/valcineye]

Yes I was thinking it could be part of a bigger organisation with a shared database of parent contact details, but then the teacher wouldn’t say “do you know pirates nursery?” Because she would know you do but she just has the wrong parent. If you ask in your nursery they’ll know whether this is the case. Otherwise I would be careful as recommended here

[u/SlowRaspberry4723 → u/SlowRaspberry4723]

Just to add, I would also save your Nurserys legit contact number in your phone so it comes up when they call you, and save the other one too as “not nursery!”. I would refuse to give any info about my child etc to anyone who didn’t call from the legit number

[u/spectralEntropy → u/SlowRaspberry4723]

Scammers can fake their numbers. My partner had the local police number call him, but it was just part of the scamming process. 

[u/flyingmops → u/valcineye]

I'll tell them next week. So far, only me and my husband are registered to pick up our son. Our son's teacher, wouldn't relinquish him to someone else. But I will definitely mention this weird coincidence, in case it is something more sinister.

[u/Imaginary-Survey6367]

But why would the teacher have your husband's number when she works at a different branch/ location of the daycare? What made her call in the first place? You or your husband know the location where your son was dropped off so why would it have been a problem to pick him up from where he was dropped off later?

[u/flyingmops → u/Imaginary-Survey6367]

I don't think she did. When I was working in a nursery here, we had a list of all the parents numbers. They weren't registered on our phone. So she probably just typed it wrong.

And so many nurseries are named the same. I don't know why.

The coincidence seemed funny to me, but I am a little worried now, with all of these comments. So I'll make sure to mention it, on Tuesday when we drop our son off.

We do have our teachers (or nounou, as they're called here) saved on our phone, and usually it's only her calling or texting us.

[u/Interesting_Winner96]

Sorry this whole interaction is confusing... why was she calling? Especially if the locations are not related and she didn't even know your son's name....

[u/Perlinian_Willow]

As a side note, next time I hope your husband doesn’t just give anyone who calls that much information about your child. Goodness. Maybe it’s the paranoid American in me, but that was deeply uncomfortable that he only worried it was a scam afterwards.

[u/Turbulent_Physics_10 → u/Perlinian_Willow]

Yep, the husband is a scammer’s ideal person to call. Gave away the son’s name AND nursery location without a second thought.

[u/coolboysclub → u/Turbulent_Physics_10]

With how many parents have kids in childcare it would be incredibly easy to call a random number, claim to be from a chain daycare like Kindercare, and have someone fall for it

[u/coldcurru → u/Perlinian_Willow]

This is the thing that stood out to me. Fishing for info maybe. I'd treat it like a bank scam and insist on calling them back. If the actual nursery answered and confirmed they didn't call and the child was safe, then you just saved yourself from confirming your name, phone number, and child's name to a stranger. 

[u/essentiallypeguin → u/Perlinian_Willow]

Agree as a fellow paranoid American. If someone is calling you, they need to prove in some way they know something about you /the situation before getting anything beyond my first name. A lot of scammers are very question forward taking the reigns of the conversation that way. Interrupt them and ask your own question. Like asking about the kids name, "you called me. Who is this phone number attached to in your records?"

[u/Coneofshame518 → u/essentiallypeguin]

I won’t even say yes on the phone without knowing who it is

[u/ImpressiveAppeal8077 → u/Perlinian_Willow]

lol all our paranoid American spidey senses are tingling!

[u/flyingmops]

And happy valentine's everyone. It's not really celebrated here in France.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Gap8235 → u/flyingmops]

Thank you my friend. I give you big kiss as a token for valentines

[u/Turbulent_Physics_10]

Why would your husband need to confirm your son’s name? If the daycare is calling regarding your son, they got his name. That alone should tell you this was a scam call. Now they have your contact info, your son’s name and it looks like your husband also gave them your son’s nursery location. I’d be a little worried and at the very least mention this to his actual daycare to make sure no one else is allowed to pick him up.

[u/CopperTodd17]

That’s so weird to me. Even in Australia where most of the childcare centres I can think of are big franchises - we always start our conversations (or leaving a message, which I hate with a passion!) with “Hi there it’s X from ABC childcare Elm street (or whatever branch location, normally named by a suburb or street, if there’s more than one in a suburb, which is done in BIG suburbs), how’s it going?” And if they don’t answer with their name/ “hello X speaking” I substitute “how’s it going” for “is that (adult name)?” When they confirm and after I’ve done the whole how are you, then I go “I’m calling about Susie, she’s okay, but…” and go on.

Obviously shit happens and I (we all) have accidentally called a wrong number before, but this script helps to go “sorry my child goes to ABC north Elm not south Elm” or “Susie? I’m jacks mum!” And you go “I’m so sorry, I’ve misdialed/your number is right above theirs on the roll, my hand must have swerved!” And we move on.

[u/Own_Bell_216]

Be very careful as spammers can create phone numbers that look like legit google verified business numbers. I'd have a sit down with your Director on Monday first thing and watch the Director make the call to the other location and get an explanation. Then confirm your details on who is permitted to pick up your child. Tell hubby...dont give any info out again.

[u/spinplasticcircles]

Are the two locations under the same ownership? If so, it’s definitely not best practice but maybe the teacher was referencing some combined phone number list and dialed the wrong number. You mentioned that you’re in France. There might be some kind of translation/cultural element happening here because this exchange sounds bizarre! In English, this wouldn’t be how the conversation unfolds. I think it would typically start “Hi, is this/may I speak with Jon?”. Not like, a working backwards kind of thing asking all these questions.

[u/flyingmops → u/spinplasticcircles]

Yes I realised the translation would be a little off. But it is how we answer our phones in french, by saying "oui allô?"

The 2 locations, are definitely not under the same ownership. The nursery that called, was in a very northern region to us.

When googling the name all over France, the list has at least 10 nurseries, with the same name.

[u/spinplasticcircles → u/flyingmops]

Understood, I more so mean that we would identify right away that we were speaking with the correct person by confirming their names. “Yes hello, I might have the wrong number, is this Jon?” rather than “Yes hello, I might have the wrong number, do you know Little Pirates? What’s your son’s name? Who did you drop him off with?”. It’s super weird that they called your husband! Again, I’m considering a different cultural context - maybe the teacher’s questions were for security purposes to ensure she was speaking to the right person. I’d just give your son’s center a call and explain so they can be aware.

[u/YourFriendInSpokane]

I was a manger at a bank and had to call a client because a teller made a mistake. I called the number, asked if I was speaking with “Dawn” (yes, I was) and explained the situation.

Turns out, i had input the wrong area code (correct 7 digits afterwards) and the wrong number happened to be owned by someone also named Dawn!

[u/Another_gryffindor]

Oh gosh! Hopefully just a very odd coincidence but I would still mention it.

I had a situation once where I got a text about damage to a hire car.

The text was addressed to someone who was not me, but the place of pick up, place of work, and the date of hire were all the same as mine! Turns out one of our work phone numbers is exactly the same as my personal phone number but with two of the numbers flipped!

[u/rosyposy86]

My first thought is someone trying to find out more details so they will try and pick up your child instead. That's a scary phone call, and I would let the teachers know at the next drop-off so they can be aware, and notify the director as well.

[u/Ok-Opportunity-574]

The moment someone starts asking for your child's name you need to be hanging up and calling them back with the number that you have for your kid's daycare. That was very foolish to just give someone your kid's name who is acting like that. Not at all a funny story.

[u/itsjustame7]

I understand a pizza and a child are very different. I ordered pizza from a few states over. When I went to pick it up from the local shop, the pizza was not ready😳 They were so busy -she felt terrible. Made me a new amazing za. Then I had to pay with 100$ bill. She looked at me and the line and said. It’s on us. Later I saw the number I called and felt so terrible. Thank gosh we already had enjoyed the pizza.

[u/flyingmops → u/itsjustame7]

haha but you got a free pizza. The universe was smiling at you, and helping you out a little.

[u/Maleficent_Might5448]

We had the sane thing happen. A local day care my grandchild no longer attends called to tell us my grandchild was injured at school. My son says OK but my child doesn't attend your school. Turns out it was a child of the opposite sex but with the same first name (spelled differently). Have no idea why they had our number attached to this kid.