With the holidays around the corner, GoDaddy employees received an email last week offering some welcome financial relief: a $650 holiday bonus.
Two days later, they received another email from GoDaddy:
“You failed our recent phishing test.” https://t.co/FHWG93BnAM
— Lorraine Longhi 🌵 (@lolonghi) December 23, 2020
Those who did were informed two days later that “you failed our recent phishing test,” and that they would be required to complete a security training, according to Copper Courier reporter Lorraine Longhi. News of the “test” prompted outrage on Twitter, with some users threatening to change hosting providers.
While it’s not unusual for companies to send fake phishing emails to test their employees, promising a holiday bonus in the middle of a pandemic when millions are struggling to stay fed and housed is particularly cruel. As Longhi points out, GoDaddy “laid off or reassigned hundreds of employees during the coronavirus pandemic,” despite reporting record growth in new customers during its last earnings call.
GoDaddy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Comments
334
Shares
