Scams Claiming to Be Associated with GiveWell

Published: September 2017; Last updated: November 2022

We have experienced several cases of others falsely claiming to represent GiveWell or "GiveWell Inc."

Job offers

It is our understanding that this scam often involves someone allegedly from GiveWell contacting an individual to offer a job, and then asking the individual to deposit a fraudulent check and transfer the funds to another account. We would like to make the public aware of this fraudulent activity, which is in no way associated with GiveWell or any related entity. We recommend that all recipients of communications such as those described on this page take care to verify the authenticity of the message prior to fulfilling any request.

Please note:

• We do not contact people based on their posting of resumes on third-party job sites.
• We do not make unsolicited job offers via Facebook or Craigslist.
• We never ask job applicants to send money on behalf of GiveWell.
• GiveWell-affiliated email addresses generally end in "@givewell.org" (as opposed to "@gmail.com," "@yahoo.com," or others).

Some names that have occurred frequently in fraudulent messages are "Susan Komer," "Susan Komen," and "Andrew Russell." We will add other names to this paragraph if you alert us about them.

If you have been contacted by someone perpetrating this scam, we believe you might be able to report the account from which they contacted you. You can report a Gmail email address here. You can report a Facebook account by following these instructions. You may also be able to file a fraud report here.

If you are uncertain whether a contact is real, please email us at info@givewell.org. For information about jobs for which GiveWell is hiring, see this page.

Donations to individuals

Added September 2018; updated November 2022: We are aware of a scam involving checks mailed to individuals claiming to be coming from GiveWell. We do not mail checks to individuals. This is an attempt at fraud and not affiliated with GiveWell. Neither the contact nor the check are legitimate.

Added November 2020: We recently became aware of a scam involving emails with messages that start with 'GiveWell Vakfı'ndanım,' and informing recipients that they could receive a $2,000,000 donation if they shared information with the emailer. This is an attempt at fraud and not affiliated with GiveWell. The contact is not legitimate.

Added October 2020: We recently became aware of a scam involving emails claiming to be from "Fundación GiveWell" and informing recipients that they could receive a $2,000,000 donation if they shared information with the emailer. This is an attempt at fraud and not affiliated with GiveWell. The contact is not legitimate.