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| Just kidding! GoDaddy wishes employees happy holidays with FAKE bonus promise, to teach them about phishing scams | Just kidding! GoDaddy wishes employees happy holidays with FAKE bonus promise, to teach them about phishing scams |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| With ruthless devotion to operational security, web hosting firm GoDaddy has duped its employees with a hoax email promising a holiday bonus – which turned out to be a ruse to teach workers about the perils of phishing scams. | |
| The notice, obtained this week by an Arizona NBC affiliate, enticed company personnel with an offer of a one-time “holiday bonus,” only asking that they enter their personal information into a form included on the email in order to guarantee they received the Christmas cash. | The notice, obtained this week by an Arizona NBC affiliate, enticed company personnel with an offer of a one-time “holiday bonus,” only asking that they enter their personal information into a form included on the email in order to guarantee they received the Christmas cash. |
| “Happy Holiday GoDaddy! 2020 has been a record year for GoDaddy, thanks to you!” the deceptive email said, adding: “Though we cannot celebrate together during our annual Holiday Party, we want to show our appreciation and share a $650 one-time Holiday bonus!” | |
| To the frustration of employees, however, the offer was too good to be true. Those who followed the email’s instructions and filled out the form were soon met with a stern warning: “You’re getting this email because you failed our recent phishing test. You will need to retake the Security Awareness Social Engineering training,”according to local Arizona outlet the Copper Courier. The follow-up message also noted that around 500 GoDaddy employees had failed the test. | To the frustration of employees, however, the offer was too good to be true. Those who followed the email’s instructions and filled out the form were soon met with a stern warning: “You’re getting this email because you failed our recent phishing test. You will need to retake the Security Awareness Social Engineering training,”according to local Arizona outlet the Copper Courier. The follow-up message also noted that around 500 GoDaddy employees had failed the test. |
| Days after the hoax email was sent on December 14, the company held a “town hall” event for workers where some anonymously expressed anger at the “tone-deaf” scheme, the NBC affiliate reported. The phishing ‘test’ may have been received especially poorly given that it came just months after GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani announced a spate of lay-offs amid the economic fallout of Covid-19 and related government shutdown policies, which have ravaged much of the US, and indeed global, economy. | |
| While GoDaddy has fallen victim to far-reaching phishing attacks previously, with Forbes reporting a massive breach in May that impacted some 28,000 customers, netizens were not impressed with the fake email. Commenters savaged the company for the Grinch-like move, with one blasting the firm as “beyond deplorable.” | |
| Some observers pushed back on those condemning the company as a Scrooge, however, calling the move “smart” from a security standpoint. Some also argued that employees who fell for the trick were among “the most gullible user[s] on the planet.” | Some observers pushed back on those condemning the company as a Scrooge, however, calling the move “smart” from a security standpoint. Some also argued that employees who fell for the trick were among “the most gullible user[s] on the planet.” |
| GoDaddy is not the first company to take heat for a similar stunt, with Tribune Publishing also fooling employees with a promise of a bonus in September in order to root out potential security breaches. The publisher later apologized for the setup – which also followed a company announcement that it would impose pay-cuts and lay-offs in some of its newsrooms – acknowledging that it was “misleading and insensitive.” | GoDaddy is not the first company to take heat for a similar stunt, with Tribune Publishing also fooling employees with a promise of a bonus in September in order to root out potential security breaches. The publisher later apologized for the setup – which also followed a company announcement that it would impose pay-cuts and lay-offs in some of its newsrooms – acknowledging that it was “misleading and insensitive.” |
| If you like this story, share it with a friend! | If you like this story, share it with a friend! |