Today I failed a phishing test.
So, I receive this email from ceo@ourcompanydomain.com, saying, “Bella, Are you at your desk? I need you to help me wire a transfer.”
A bit odd for three reasons:
1. Our email address format is “name.surname@ourcompanydomain.com”
2. Following point 1, I know our CEO’s name
3. Wording. Also, not signed.
Surely this is enough of a walking red flag for you, Bella? You might ask. Also, you? Wiring transfers?
Well, actually, in my defence, in my position, I can approve transfers, as I am working for both Office Management and Finance. So there is that. Both my boss and the accountant are on holiday at the moment, so it would make sense that someone come to me first. Also, this person is using our domain. Our company is pretty small. People have been on business trips recently. Like, I checked for missing letters and wrong punctuation. It looked fine.
So I reply, and I add a bit in Russian, knowing that if this has come from HQ, then the response will come back in kind.
And I wait for a response.
And 10 minutes later I receive “You got PRANKED”. Well, no, I receive “You’ve just failed a phishing test.” Apparently even replying to a phishing email is already bad. I didn’t know.
So this is from the company we’ve partnered with to make us more security aware, and it is a good reminder to me that I have a few modules I have to complete before the end of the fortnight. Considering I just got caught out like this, I reckon some solid training is imperative.
Yeah, I feel like a numpty.
Also, my key catalogue that I was working on didn’t work due to my miscalculations of how many keys we have from the register I made earlier. I drew a table by hand. It took ages. It was so lovingly done. Then I realise I don’t have enough cells about a third of the way through. I was so upset. It was quite literally back to the drawing board. I surprised myself with the vehemence with which I tore the paper up. Mistakes are foundations to build truths on. You know the French verb for being mistaken is “se tromper”, which directly translates as “to trick oneself”. It’s the season of trickery and dead leaf piles, what can I say?
Ah, again, on the scamming side of things, I receive a call on the company phone from Manchester of all places today, asking for someone I do not recognise, with regards to his subscription to a magazine to do with our line of work. I said, can I look up the person in question, and you call me back in half an hour?, scissors and plastic in my hands from unwrapping the yet unwrapped stools we had delivered to us a week ago. They said yes. I received no call back. I looked up their number and it sounds like they weren’t who they purported to be. I also couldn’t find the man in question on our system. Still, all the stools are unwrapped now. I’m proud, considering it wasn’t an easy job. Someone please outlaw the obscene amounts of plastic that get put on these things, though. I get that it’s there to shield from bumps and dirt (my hands were filthy by the end), but there has got to be another way.
Somehow managed the morning postal delivery, too. I just smiled. No words were spoken on that indecorous invitation.
All in all, the day, for all its failures and surprises, went very well. I’m very happy.
And I ended it talking to my girl best friend. So that makes it perfect in my eyes.
And tomorrow, I go home!
So, today’s lesson:
If something seems suspicious, trust your instincts, and double-check with someone more experienced than you (an adultier adult, as goes the adage).
Love you all 💛
At Least Afloat 