Has anyone been approached to become an Airbnb interpreter? Thread poster: Claire Ziamandanis
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I was solicited for interpreting for Airbnb, they claim for jobs that might include:
• Social Services
• Child Protection appointments
• Medical appointments
• Legal matters and Immigration meetings
I followed up, because it seemed the website link was legitimate, and then they came back quite quickly with an offer for work, at a very decent rate.
Has anyone else run into this? Legit or just scammers wasting my time?
| | | | Keith Hayden
United States
Local time: 18:28
English to Spanish
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| Do not trust the AirBnB Solicitation for Interpreters | Sep 19, 2017 |
I got the same request last week, and after some careful analysis of the message I concluded that it is most likely a scam.
The first thing I wondered was "why does AirBnB need interpreters to do all manner of interpreting from social services work to legal interpretation?" It doesn't make sense that they want interpreters to be able to do this work, but they still say it's ok for beginners and un-certified interpreters to apply.
Also, the email has a few typos that a ... See more I got the same request last week, and after some careful analysis of the message I concluded that it is most likely a scam.
The first thing I wondered was "why does AirBnB need interpreters to do all manner of interpreting from social services work to legal interpretation?" It doesn't make sense that they want interpreters to be able to do this work, but they still say it's ok for beginners and un-certified interpreters to apply.
Also, the email has a few typos that a real recruiter from AirBnB most likely would have caught, in addition to the fact that the email does not have the AirBnB logo anywhere on it.
When you do click on the link for the application, it looks legit until you notice that that banner icon "the little picture in the tab" does not have the Airbnb logo. Of course anything that was really from Airbnb would have their well-known logo.
Finally, I checked on LinkedIn and there were no openings for interpreters, only for translators. While I know non-interpreters/translators often mix up the term, the job description definitely sound like a type of localizer that specializes in certain languages working from home.
I was hopeful when I saw the message too, but after I told my girlfriend about all of the weird things in the message, she also agreed that it was probably a scam. Hope this helps! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Ask to Support? | Sep 20, 2017 |
To have further confirmation, it might be useful to try to get in touch with AirBnB supprt and explain this. Should this be actually a scam, you will make them aware of it, otherwise you'll be noticed among the other "applicants" Nothing to lose
[Edited at 2017-09-20 07:53 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:28
Member (2008)
Italian to English
I wouldn't lift a finger to help Air B'n'B in any way. They are forcing up rentals and making it impossible for long-time residents in places like Barcelona to continue living there.
But it's interesting to see the categories of interpreting they're looking for. I seem to smell a scent of litigation....
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Claire Ziamandanis 
United States
Local time: 21:28
Member (2016)
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Old time scam in the end | Sep 22, 2017 |
This ended up being the typical "The check is in the mail, but it was mistakenly made out for too much, so please cash it and send back X amount." At the very least, they are out the postage for sending me the phony check, and I am only out 20 minutes of my time to complete the application materials.
And as far as Airbnb goes, I am unable to report the scam to them, as they make it super difficult to contact them.
I should have trusted my initial instinct that it was not legitimate. Thanks for the feedback all.
| | | | Regina Frank
United States
Local time: 18:28
English to Czech
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| I got exactly the same check just with my name. I was also unable to contact Airbnb. | Sep 30, 2017 |
However, I found the Panaco company online and called them, they asked me to send the check to them, which I did.
Regards, Regina Frank in Arizona
Claire Ziamandanis wrote: This ended up being the typical "The check is in the mail, but it was mistakenly made out for too much, so please cash it and send back X amount." At the very least, they are out the postage for sending me the phony check, and I am only out 20 minutes of my time to complete the application materials. And as far as Airbnb goes, I am unable to report the scam to them, as they make it super difficult to contact them. I should have trusted my initial instinct that it was not legitimate. Thanks for the feedback all.
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