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!”
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.”
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