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Alert Regarding Online Scams

Online scams are on the rise, and like many people and organizations, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and our Dell Scholars and Dell Young Leaders programs have also been impacted by this sort of fraudulent activity.  From time to time, the foundation receives notifications from individuals or organizations that they have received emails or other correspondence bearing the foundation’s name or the name of our programs and containing a request for money or sensitive personal information.  Examples of such activities include:

  • Falsely requesting donations for the foundation
  • Falsely claiming that the foundation, the Dell Scholars program, or the Dell Young Leaders program has awarded a grant or scholarship to the recipient, but that it can only be awarded once a fee is paid or certain sensitive personal information is provided
  • Falsely soliciting individuals for funding to invest in foundation projects

This activity can occur in any geography and in different languages.  Often, the solicitation comes with the foundation logo, photos, or links taken from the foundation website or other foundation materials.  These scams can often be quite sophisticated and look very authentic.

To be clear, please note that:

  • The foundation and our programs never approach individuals to offer grants or award prizes
  • The foundation and our programs never charge any sort of administrative, handling, transfer, or other fee when awarding a grant
  • The foundation and our programs never solicit individuals or others for investment opportunities
  • The foundation and our programs never solicit for donations

If you have any doubt as to the authenticity of any contact or correspondence claiming to be from, or affiliated with, the foundation, the Dell Scholars program, or the Dell Young Leaders program, please contact us here, and we will investigate and remediate accordingly.

For more information about the United States Federal Trade Commission’s efforts against these kinds of fraud or filing a complaint with the agency, please visit the FTC’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection webpage.