Location: Remote: Participants must be based in South Africa

Schedule: Flexible

Project type: Short-term/project-based

Device requirement(s): You must use your own mobile phone and South Africa phone number

Productive Playhouse is seeking English-speaking participants for a mobile messaging data collection project. Participants will submit authentic scam and spam SMS messages received on their personal mobile phones to help improve technology designed to identify fraudulent and unwanted communications.

This is a flexible, remote opportunity. Participants may submit eligible messages whenever they receive them, provided all submissions meet project requirements..

Your contributions will support the development of tools designed to make mobile messaging safer for users around the world.

• Earn $1.75 USD for each qualified message you submit
• Participate remotely on a flexible schedule
• Help improve scam-detection technology by showing how real messages appear in English.

• Submit authentic SMS messages that meet project guidelines
• Identify each message as either Scam or Spam
• Categorize submissions according to the appropriate message type
• Ensure all submissions are complete, accurate, and meet quality standards
• Follow all project instructions and submission requirements

Please note: Messages collected from email or other platforms are not eligible. Submissions must be SMS messages received directly on your mobile phone.

Only submissions that meet requirements will be eligible for payment

You may be a good fit if you:

• Are a native or expert-level fluency in English, as spoken in South Africa
• Currently located in South Africa
• Have access to your own mobile device
• You must have access to your own South Africa phone number
• Can follow project guidelines and quality standards

• Your language skills are the whole point — and this project pays for them
• Apply once, get contacted directly when a spot opens — no chasing
• Work from anywhere, on your own schedule, alongside any other work you do
• Clear task specs, no ongoing oversight, no micromanagement
  Real project experience with a global data and language services company
• Work that actually improves how AI understands your language

We started by teaching kids through award-winning programming. We grew into a global data and language services company trusted by clients worldwide. But the mission never changed: keep language alive.

Transcription, translation, localization, linguistic analysis, AI evaluation — it all comes back to preserving languages and the cultures they carry.

All engagements are contingent upon successful completion of identity verification. Productive Playhouse is an equal opportunity organization headquartered in California and committed to diversity and inclusion across our global workforce. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and abilities, regardless of location or engagement type. For accommodations or inquiries, please contact hr@productiveplayhouse.com.