MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

CFO Daily News

MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Payroll
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Finance Technology
  • More
    • Employment Law
    • Strategy
    • Policy and Culture
    • Fraud
    • Payments and Transactions
    • Budgeting and Forecasting
    • Banking
    • Staff Management
    • Cost Control
    • Supply Chain
    • IT

Deceitful email hooks Finance should watch for in 2020

Alyssa Evans
by Alyssa Evans
July 30, 2020
  • Fraud
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

Despite all the warnings your finance staff hears about email scams, it’s all too easy for them to forget those warnings during a busy workday.

They’re cutting checks, answering customer queries, opening emails … and all of a sudden, a staffer realizes he just clicked on what could be a malicious threat.

A change in tactic

At most companies, CFOs and IT leaders actively work to keep staffers abreast of email scams and threats. So, why are scams still so easy to fall for?

Criminals aren’t sticking to just classic approaches, like fake wire requests from the CEO, to trick your finance staff into sharing private data or sending unauthorized payments. More and more, they’re using seemingly innocent email hooks and subject lines, found a new 2020 report from the security experts at Proofpoint.

Example: An A/P staffer may be automatically suspicious of an “urgent” payment request from an “executive” at their company. They’d be wary of clicking any links or opening any attachments. But if that same A/P staffer got a message with an “updated company policy or plan” from “HR,” they might not think twice about clicking a link or opening an attachment.

‘Most successful’ email hooks

In its report, Proofpoint assessed what kind of duplicitous email subject lines criminals used – and staffers actually fell for. Some of the most successful email hooks Proofpoint identified were:

  • SharePoint document
  • scanned from a Xerox Multifunction Printer
  • dealer proposal
  • updated building evacuation plan
  • confidential document
  • [first name], please add me to your LinkedIn network
  • lost watch, and
  • lost ring.

Given all the dispersed work and business disruption due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’d be good to bring this to your finance staff’s attention. Remind them criminals may try to get their guard down with “harmless” emails they wouldn’t think twice about opening. And share the list of most successful subject lines, so they get familiar with real-life examples of email hooks to look out for.

Alyssa Evans
Alyssa Evans
Alyssa, a member of the CFO Daily News staff, has written extensively on business and finance for several years. She has produced content for accounts payable professionals and finance executives and has developed whitepapers and infographics for the finance and accounting industry.

Keep Up To Date with the Latest Finance News

With CFO Daily News arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on accounting, benefits, payroll & employment law strategies.

Sign up for a free CFO Daily News membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
CFO Daily News Logo
  • ABOUT CFO DAILY NEWS
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Payroll
  • Policy and Culture
  • Employment Law
  • Fraud
  • Finance Technology
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Strategy
  • Payments and Transactions
  • Budgeting and Forecasting
  • Banking
  • Staff Management
  • Cost Control
  • Supply Chain
  • IT

CFO Daily News, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest Finance and employment law news for Finance professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, CFO Daily News delivers actionable insights, helping Finance execs understand what Finance trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

preloader