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by John W. Simek, Vice President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.

Twelve Most Common Phishing Email Subject Lines

March 20, 2019

The bad guys are constantly looking at ways to get users to click on links or open attachments in an attempt to install malware or otherwise compromise personal information. Barracuda Networks spent three months analyzing 360,000 emails and identified the twelve most common forms of subject lines targeting users. These studies are fascinating in that they give insight into what users think is important enough to do something stupid. The top subject lines contained some form of the following key phrases.

  1. Request
  2. Follow up
  3. Urgent/Important
  4. Are you available?/Are you at your desk?
  5. Payment Status
  6. Hello
  7. Purchase
  8. Invoice Due
  9. Re:
  10. Direct Deposit
  11. Expenses
  12. Payroll

Be particularly cautious if you see any of these in a subject line. The “Are you at your desk?” one is a way to start a conversation, appearing to come from someone you know. If you respond, the next message will probably ask you to buy some gift cards. Amazing how many people fall for that one.

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