Mackenzie Scott scam: Fraudsters are dangling fake donations in billionaire's name

If you or your organization receives an email from MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire ex-wife of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, check it carefully. Fraudsters are sending out scam emails that claim they are distributing funds from Scott's foundation. In reality, the goal of the emails is not to distribute billions to charity, but to fleece victims. 

The scam started surfacing after Scott announced in December that she had given away $4.2 billion of her fortune to more than 300 organizations, including food banks and other charities that help people in need. Ironically, one food bank in Arkansas, which had received an authentic email from Scott about a real donation, initially believed it was a scam.  That may have primed fraudsters to develop a phishing scam based on Scott's donations in the hope that some organizations would believe that they, too, are receiving valid emails, said Eyal Benishti, the CEO of tech security company Ironscales. About 200 of its customers have received the fake Mackenzie Scott emails, although none have fallen for the bait, he added.