Does this look like a scam or not?

I'm a bit new to the au pair world and really want to go to Asia. I made a profile on aupair.com and two agencies have reached out to me so far. I would really appreciate it if you guys can help figure out if these are legit or not.

The first one reached out to me through pm and said,
"Hi Tom
I 'm interested in your profile. Would you mind adding my WeChat or Skype to know more about us ? My WeChat is 495875600. My Skype account is live:615de32933fb715d, the name is Liu Xin.

Best,
Frank&Xia"
Then I added the person on wechat and found out I was talking to someone from an agency who is looking for an au pair for the family. They then asked me if I would do a skype call with the family and then gave me an application for me to fill out. The most personal information on the application was my passport number but other than that nothing out of the ordinary. Now he told me to give until the weekend for the family to get back to me. He did give me a link to his agency here, https://www.wanderlustorg.com/ and his email that he sent me the application from is [email protected] .

The second agency that reached out to me also reached out to me through direct message on the same site. This is their message,
"Hello,
My name is Eliza and I am contacting you on behalf of MTA Network in China. We are a recruitment agency and we are looking for Aupairs who are interested in coming to China for at least 6 months.
Our program will offer you Free accommodation with a Chinese family (which includes free Breakfast and Dinner), Free Visa, Free Chinese classes and 24/7 assistance from us for the duration of your stay. Besides all this you will also get salary for teaching the Kids English.
This program will not require you to do babysitting or housekeeping tasks, leaving you enough time to learn Chinese and experience the culture.
If you are interested in such an opportunity please contact me at [email protected] for more details.
Thank you."
I haven't said anything or emailed them yet but I tried doing research on this agency and have not found anything about them.

I really hope the first one isn't a scam or anything because I am really looking forward to being able to go to China and the family looks like a very nice family based off of their profile. I hope you guys can figure something out and help me out.

Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of information on the agencies out of China. The rule of thumb is that if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Read this thread, it explains how the Au Pair scams work

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=3019

If you see any of these red flags or if you get that feeling in your gut that something just isn't right, then stay away from it. You can also check this website for legitimate agencies:

https://www.iapa.org/

[AlanJones]

As Tim says, we have limited information on agencies in China, but one thing that immediately jumped out to me is the discrepancy between the domain for the website and that used for the email address by the first agency.

He did give me a link to his agency here, https://www.wanderlustorg.com/ and his email that he sent me the application from is [email protected] .

On the website, there is an email address for the correct domain, not the .cn one.

The .com domain has been around for about 3 years, but the .cn one was only registered in June this year, so it is possible that while the agency is legitimate you are not actually in contact with them, but with a scammer posing as them.

The .com domain has been around for about 3 years, but the .cn one was only registered in June this year, so it is possible that while the agency is legitimate you are not actually in contact with them, but with a scammer posing as them.

So what do you think I should do? Should I just move on with the process and halt at the first sign of anything fishy? Also, is there any way I can confirm his identity that he is working with that agency? A skype call is being planned this weekend with this family. If I actually get a call with the family, wouldn't that mean that chances are the whole thing is possibly legit?

Given the information Alan has found - do not respond to the [email protected] email address. As he said, the agency at the wanderlustorg.com could be legitimate, but the [email protected] is not. Stop all communication with them.

[AlanJones]

Personally, I would recommend forgetting about looking on sites like aupair.com as you are more likely to find a scammer that a legitimate agency or family. Tim gave you a link to the International Au Pair Association website - visit that an go to their member directory and you should find they have members in China and links to their websites (or contact details). You can then contact them knowing that you are dealing with a legitimate agency and not someone impersonating one.