Is that scam?

Hello Mariona,
 
Ni Hao from China! My name is Elva Wong, China Au Pair Program Coordinator from HHS center, the first and largest au pair agency in China and a full member of IAPA (International Au Pair Association).
 
We accidentally got your profile through one of our registered families and thought you might be interested in aupairing 3months, 6 months or 12months in China. You will expect to live with a well-educated Chinese family in selected Chinese cities such as Beijing and Guangzhou that provide you with free room and board. Being an HHS Au Pair grants you many privileges and benefits, to name a few:

For Individual Participant?Flexible Arrival Date, place before arrival, 3/6/12 month?

   - Monthly compensation of 750RMB
   - Visa Invitation and Extension
   - Arrival Orientation 
   - 24/7 emergency call number
   - Airport/train pick-up
   - Assigned coordinator
   - Monthly newsletter & Cultural Activities
   - International travel insurance
   - Free Chinese classes with materials up to a year
   - Welcome Pack (Free metro card, City map, SIM card)
   - Up to 5000RMB towards intl’ flights

For Group Arrival (Set Date, Place upon arrival, 3/6/12 month)  

Besides all benifits enjoyed by Individual Participants, Group Arrival enjoys the following extra benifits:

 Free Fight Ticket to China!!

 Free Trip upon Arrival (2 weeks, 2-3 cities)

  Internship oppurtunies

 Chinese University Scholarship Oppurtunities

  500RMB/per person Referral Bonus 

Here are some of our waiting families updated in August. If you are interested, please register online at http://www.hhscenter.com/application/us ... _login.asp, we would contact you soon after receiving your application.

Looking forward to seeing you in Beijing!
 
Regards,

Elva Wong






Elva Wong
Program Coordinator
HHS (Beijing) International Cultural Exchange Center
 
Rm.508, Huantai Da Sha, No. 12A, South Street Zhongguancun, Haidian District, Beijing  100081
T: 86-10-62111895
E: [email protected]
Skype: hhs.internship
facebook.com/hhscenter  www.hhscenter.com
Discover, Understand, Embrace Real China!

This email and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail, delete this email and destroy any copies. Any dissemination or use of this information by a person other than the intended recipient is unauthorized and may be illegal.

I think that it is, but I just wanna know ... Thanks!

The official IAPA website lists HHS(Beijing)International Cultural Exchange Center as having a website at http://www.aupair-usa.cn

Top right corner there is an 'English' link which ends up going to the website mentioned in the email:-
http://www.hhscenter.com/en/index.asp - In addition, the hhscenter.com website is mentioned here http://www.aupair-usa.cn/About.asp?ID=7 - So, the website is a real one.

The link in the email which asks you to register appears to go to the correct website, but in your email, please hold your mouse over the link to make sure the text in the email is the same as the link it points to. Sometimes a fraudulent offer will redirect you to a fake website without you noticing.

You did not give details about the sender of the email, so if it is not on the list of contact email addresses for the organisation, or it is not one of the two official websites, then that would be a reason to be suspicious.

However, from the text you have given, there does not appear to be anything wrong with it (so far).

The obvious question is, are you on "a list of registered families" where the mailer could have taken your address from?

Then it seems to be 'real' but I'm not on a that kind of lists. I'm in aupair world and easyaupair, anything else.

If you are not on a list that they can use legitimately, and there is no obvious attempt at a scam, then it will fall under the title of 'Unsolicited Email'. Chinese companies seem to think that spamming people is an acceptable part of their business model. I get a few each month that turn out to be well established Chinese companies.

Your posting will serve as a warning to others who may be spammed by these lot, and maybe if they look here themselves they will cut it out... (I won't hold my breath though)