She is a University of Missouri education major looking for a summer job.
A friend told her about care.com, a website where people go to find nannies and babysitters.
She thought it sounded like the perfect fit.
We talked to the girl's father Wednesday and he told us it was anything but perfect.
"Overall, total scam, about 2,700", Tom told us.
He asked we not disclose his last name.
It was an expensive lesson in growing up.
The Better Business Bureau has dubbed it the “Nanny Scam”.
This is how it worked, the scammer said she was living in Portland, Oregon but was moving to Columbia.
She had a hearing disability and could only correspond through email.
She needed a sitter for five hours per day.
It all sounded pretty legitimate, and then the scammer sent the girl a $2,700 check, told her to keep $375, and the rest would be used to pay for delivery of her son's wheelchair.
Soon after that, the scammer told the student to wire $2,400 via money gram to a wheelchair supplier in Texas, but the check hadn't clear yet, and the student got taken.
Her father said, "She realizes now that it was to good to be true, and I guess some advice for parents: sometimes against your better judgment you have to stick your nose in your kids business even though you might get it punched".
The BBB says scammers will often try to communicate via text or email to hide foreign accents.
And, always beware of sob stories or attempts at sympathy.
Plus, the biggest indicator it's a scam is if they ask for money via wire transfers, Moneygrams, or green dot money cards.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKRCG