Intro

We’ve become aware of a scam targeting job seekers that impersonates Altruist’s hiring process. We want to make sure anyone who’s been contacted, or who applies to Altruist in the future, knows how to spot it.

The thing to keep in mind is this: Altruist’s official domain is altruist.com, and hiring-related messages will come from @altruist.com addresses. If a message about a job at Altruist comes from anywhere else, it isn’t from us.

What’s happening

Scammers are impersonating Altruist recruiters to target job seekers. As of this posting, the fraudulent emails are being sent from “altruisthires[.]com”. The messages we’ve seen claim to be from “Andrew Denton”, identified as a Talent Manager in Altruist’s HR department. To appear more legitimate they even reference Altruist’s real corporate address in Culver City, CA.

Be aware that scammers frequently switch domains, names, titles and other specifics like this as the scam evolves, so the details in use may be different by the time you’re reading this.

The pattern we’ve seen follows a familiar structure: an unsolicited “congratulations”; an immediate job offer for a remote role (in this case, “Remote Implementation Specialist”) with no real interview and an unusually high hourly rate; and an explanation for why the entire process happens over email and instant messaging rather than a call or video interview. It then asks the recipient to share personal information (full name, home address, phone number, etc.), and mentions a forthcoming “payment” (in this case, “to cover the setup of your home office”) – a setup commonly used in advance-fee and fake-check scams.

This is not us. Altruist does not own, operate, or send communications from “altruisthires[.]com”. Any email, offer letter, interview invitation, or hiring-related message that doesn’t come from an @altruist.com email address did not come from Altruist, even if the message mentions Altruist’s real physical address, real job titles, or other accurate details.

Why this happens

Recruiter and employment impersonation scams have grown sharply in recent years, and job seekers are an especially attractive target: they’re actively expecting to hear from unfamiliar companies, and they’re often willing to share personal and financial information as part of what looks like a normal hiring process. Scammers exploit that trust by cloning a real company’s name and branding, then using the fake identity to harvest personal information, collect upfront “fees” for equipment or background checks, or push victims toward fraudulent check-cashing schemes.

This is a well-documented pattern across the industry, not something unique to Altruist – but that doesn’t make it any less serious for the people it targets.

What we’re doing

  • We’ve identified the fraudulent domain and reported it to the companies responsible for hosting and registering it, requesting that it be taken down.
  • We’re continuing to monitor for related domains, emails, and job postings that impersonate Altruist, and we’ll take action to disrupt them as we find them.
  • We’re publishing this notice so job seekers have a clear way to check whether an “Altruist” outreach is real.

Taking down a fraudulent domain isn’t instant, and scammers often stand up new ones once one is disrupted. That’s expected, and it’s why the check that matters most is the one that doesn’t change: our hiring-related messages will come from @altruist.com addresses.

How to protect yourself

If you’re contacted by someone claiming to represent Altruist:

Check the domain.

All hiring communication from Altruist (job offers, interview invitations, onboarding instructions) comes from an @altruist.com email address. Anything else (including close look-alikes like “altruisthires[.]com”) is not us, no matter how accurate the rest of the message looks.

Be cautious of unsolicited outreach,

especially a job offer with no memory of applying, or a “congratulations” before any real interview took place.

Question an interview process that never leaves email or chat.

A real employer may use messaging tools alongside other steps, but an entire hiring process conducted solely over email or IM, with no phone or video call, is a red flag.

Never pay for a job, and be wary of being paid before you’ve started one.


Legitimate employers don’t ask candidates to cover equipment or training costs upfront, and they don’t send you money to set up a home office before you’ve done any work – that pattern is commonly used to set up fake-check and overpayment scams.

Be cautious about sharing personal information early.

A legitimate offer process doesn’t typically require your home address and phone number within 48 hours of first contact, before any signed offer or verified employment relationship exists.

Be wary of urgency and offers that sound too good to be true.

Unusually high pay for the role, immediate offers with no real interview, or pressure to decide quickly can all be red flags. Make sure to verify these offers independently.

If you believe you’ve been targeted by this scam, we encourage you to stop all contact with the sender and avoid clicking any links or sharing personal or financial information. You can also report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

If you have questions about whether a specific communication claiming to be from Altruist is legitimate, please reach out to us directly at [email protected].