Was there ever an individual who contacted you outside of your service area? And asked for your cellphone number?

Hi Joanne, you do not have to give her your cell phone number. And it seems reasonable to arrange a Meet & Greet at your house even if she lives in NY. The M&G is usually held where the service will take place. She needs boarding so she will want to see your house. Close off rooms that you don't want to give access. Hope this helps!

In addition, if they do agree to the M&G, have someone with you so you don't have to meet them alone. Why anybody from NY would contact a sitter in New Brunswick is beyond me. (BTW, I know where New Brunswick is, having spent some time at Rutgers). Sorry, but sounds rather scammy to me, especially because they asked for your cellphone number.

Seems like the scammers from Craigslist are here on Rover. I just dealt with one. He created his profile today, has no info, He sent a weird number but in his profile it says he lives in the same area as me, and he demanded I give him my number so we can talk better. But then he gets confused, he sent a request for a small lhasa dog to be boarded with me and then talks about walks for a golden retriever and that my duties would be "playing with his pet" and help feeding his pet.... and when I tell him this seems like a scam he got mad and said he actually won't need my service again :D I reported him to rover and his profile has been flagged for suspicious activity.

Someone asked a similar question as an sitter, this thread sounds fishy

Outside your Service Area - means you have no obligation to take the job, conduct a M&G etc. - and your rating doesn’t get dinged for declining the request, and then archiving it.