Advisory: Beware of Scams targeting Nonprofits

Beware of Scammers Posing as HGA Staff or Partners

Protect your personal information and use caution when interacting with people claiming to be staff or affiliated with Handweavers Guild of America, Inc. (HGA). 

If you are contacted by HGA, our staff will be able to provide identifying information (e.g. your member number, event registration number, etc.). If you are suspicious of a call claiming to be from HGA, take the name of the person you are speaking to, call us back directly at (678) 730-0010, and ask to be reconnected to that person.

Email spoofing is the creation of email messages with a forged sender address. All HGA emails will come from an email address that ends in @WeaveSpinDye.org. Check the ends of all email addresses.. Just because an HGA logo is used in the body of an email does not necessarily mean it is a message from HGA. 

If you are suspicious of an email, do not click on any links in the body of the email or respond to the email. Please forward the email to HGA@WeaveSpinDye.org and our staff will confirm its authenticity. Report all phishing emails to your provider.

Click here to learn more about email spoofing and phishing and how to protect yourself. 

AI has led to many of these scams becoming more common. We urge you to be cautious with any messaging you receive and verify its authenticity before engaging with it. 

Please be particularly aware of the following known common scams or characteristics of scams:

  • Requests to purchase gift cards
  • Requests to transfer money through wire transfer or cryptocurrency
  • Acting as a broker for hotels for Convergence®
  • Selling mailing lists for Convergence® or other HGA events
  • Requests for personal information, such as Social Security numbers or bank account information
  • Overly formal or incorrectly phrased language
  • Robotic sounding voices over the phone

Protect Yourself on Social Media

Be cautious with your interactions on social media. Scammers use posts, direct messaging, and more to steal information and money. Oftentimes, accounts are made under a false name, or are an impersonation account of an individual, business, government agency, or other platform.

For more information on how to keep yourself safe, click here.

To protect yourself:

  • Never send money to or share information/photos with a person you have only met online
  • Don't click on any links or attachments that look suspicious
  • Look for inconsistencies in email addresses, links, etc.
  • Be careful with any messages that contain unusual requests, notices that you won something, invitations to enter contests, deals that are “too good to be true,” offers to buy something that you are selling without asking for any information first, or posts that have a sense of urgency
  • Report all phishing emails to your provider
  • Use strong passwords
  • Keep your computer up-to-date and backed up
  • Use antivirus software

Questions? Please contact a member of the staff at 678-730-0010 or HGA@WeaveSpinDye.org.