12 Most Common Subjects In Phishing Emails Used For Fooling Users

Phishing attacks via emails are pretty common these days for which cybercriminals have new ways of luring users into falling prey to such attacks with ease. According to a cybersecurity research firm Barracuda, one such method is using ‘clickbaity’ subject in a mail.

Barracuda, after monitoring 360,000 emails in three months, has suggested that there are 12 most common email subjects through which attackers can befool users.

Here are the most commonly-used subjects for malicious activities:

Request
Follow up
Urgent/Important
Are you available?/Are you at your desk?
Payment Status
Hello
Purchase
Invoice Due
Re:
Direct Deposit
Expenses
Payroll

The report suggests that “Request” is the most commonly used phrase, followed by “Follow up” and “Urgent/Important” on second and third positions, respectively. Users often find emails with these subjects as crucial and are most likely to click on them and respond to them. Money-related subjects also act as bait for users.

Additionally, the cybercriminals make the emails look authentic as if they have been sent from someone relevant (such as the users’ colleagues or boss), which further does the work for them.

However, users can still get rid of the malware and save themselves from phishing attacks; they can install DMARC authentication, impose multi-factor authentication, or install security software to avoid the same.

For the unacquainted, DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) Authentication is a type of email authentication/policy/reporting protocol to keep a check on fraud emails.

You can read the full report over here.

Have you also experienced phishing attacks in the form of the aforementioned subjects? Comment below!