Train Workers’ Covid Bonus Offer Turns Out to Be a Phishing Test
As pandemic-related scams rise, experts say companies should tread carefully with cybersecurity exercises like one that has prompted anger in Britain.
A West Midlands train near Birmingham, England. A labor union said that many staff members had caught the coronavirus, and one had died.Credit.PA, via Associated Press
May 13, 2021Updated 9:53 a.m. ET
LONDON The email from the payroll department of a British railroad company seemed to echo a refrain from many corporate offices during a difficult year, offering employees a link to a “one-off payment” to thank them for working under the strain of the pandemic.
A train company purposefully sent staff a fake email wrongly promising workers a financial bonus as a way to test the firm s IT security.
Thousands of West Midlands Trains employees received the message from the managing director suggesting they could expect a reward for their work during the pandemic if they simply clicked on a link.
But a follow-up email read: This was a test designed by our IT team to entice you to click the link and used both the promise of thanks and financial reward to try and convince you to provide your details.
West Midlands Trains purposefully sent thousands of employees a fake email wrongly promising workers a financial bonus as a way to test the firm s IT security (file photo)
By Juha Saarinen on May 11, 2021 1:36PM Credit: WMT Facebook.
Simulated security exercise backfires.
A British trade union is demanding an apology from the West Midlands Trains rail company for running a phishing readiness test disguised as a bonus payment reward for staff that worked through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) published the text of the phishing email, which was made to look like it was sent from West Midlands Trains (WMT s) Finance and Payroll department.
Staff were told they would be offered a one-off payment to say thank you for all of your hard work over the past 12 months or so and encouraged to click on an Microsoft Office 365 link that would lead to a personal message from WMT managing director Julian Edwards.
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Workers received an email, saying they were to get a Covid bonus after the “huge strain” placed on them by the pandemic. “This was a test designed by our IT team to entice you to click the link and used both the promise of thanks and financial reward,” the second email said. Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association general secretary Manuel Cortes told
The Guardian it was almost beyond belief that the company chose to falsely offer a bonus to workers who had “done so much in the fight against this virus”. Cortes wanted the company to apologise and pay an actual bonus.