Note: this article does not actually a "scam" in the common sense of that word -- neither au pair workers nor their hosts are being defrauded. To quote the arti

Note: this article does not actually a "scam" in the common sense of that word -- neither au pair workers nor their hosts are being defrauded. To quote the article, "Everyone involved knew exactly what they were doing". Instead, author's definition of scam seems to be cases when "economic elite are allowed to buy their way out of the constraints everyone else in society faces."