The 10 Most Successful Phishing Email Subject Lines
- by Ray Schultz , July 25, 2018
Legitimate email marketers probably don’t need this intelligence. But for those who are curious, or want to avoid attacks, KnowBe4 has identified the 10 most-clicked subject lines, from tens of thousands of examples examined in simulated email phishing tests. They are:
- Password check required immediately — 15%
- Security alert — 12%
- Change of password required immediately — 11%
- A delivery attempt was made — 10%
- Urgent press release to all employees — 10%
- Deactivation of [email] in process — 10%
- Revised vacation & sick time policy — 9%
- UPS label delivery, 1ZBE312TNY00015011 — 9%
- Staff review 2017 — 7%
- Company policies - updates to our fraternization policy — 7%
KnowBe4 also examined "in-the-wild" subject lines that show actual emails users received and reported to their IT departments. The most common are:
- Microsoft: Re: Important Email Backup Failed
- Microsoft/Office 365: Re: Clutter Highlight
- Wells Fargo: Your Wells Fargo contact information has been updated
- Chase: Fraudulent Activity On Your Checking Account – Act Now
- Office 365: Change Your Password Immediately
- Amazon: We tried to deliver your package today
- Amazon: Refund - Valid Billing Information Needed
- IT: Ransomware Scan
- Docusign: Your Docusign account is suspended
- You have a secure message
