Might as well have offered a lump of coal.
Internet domain behemoth GoDaddy sent employees an email promising a Christmas bonus – which turned out to be actually a computer security test.
About 500 employees clicked on the December 14th email from the Arizona-based company offering a $ 650 vacation bonus and asked them to fill out a form with their personal information.
“Happy GoDaddy Vacation! 2020 has been a record year for GoDaddy, thanks to you! ”Said the message, obtained by Phoenix TV station KPNX.
“While we can’t celebrate together at our annual holiday party, we want to show our appreciation and share a one-time $ 650 holiday bonus!”
Two days later, employees received an email from GoDaddy’s security chief saying, “You are receiving this email because you failed our recent phishing test,” Copper Courier reported.
Many social media users rattled GoDaddy over the coals, calling the test tone deaf amid the coronavirus pandemic that has left millions of Americans financially faltering.
The company said Thursday it apologized to people who felt the email was ‘insensitive’, adding that it ‘takes the security of our platform extremely seriously’.
“We understand that some employees were upset by the phishing attempt and felt it was insensitive, for which we apologized,” a spokesman said in a statement.
With pole wires