Watch out these are the phishing scams experts say are most likely to catch your workers out

Date:
Mon, 19 Oct 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Description:
New tech announcements, gifts, and insurance claims work best, Kaspersky found.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Kaspersky finds AI and technology-themed phishing lures achieved the highest click rates, reaching 45% in testing Healthcare, compliance, promotions, and HR messages also
proved highly effective at deceiving employees Researchers found regular awareness training can dramatically reduce phishing susceptibility across organizations Phishing emails are notorious for often working exceptionally well, but which ones are the most effective? We all know that these lures
need two things: A) to carry a sense of urgency; and B) the idea that the victim will either miss out on something or suffer material troubles.

But no two emails are alike, and some campaigns prove to be more successful than others. Security researchers Kaspersky set out to learn which themes
work best, and which fail, to give businesses better insight into the biggest risks lurking in the depths of their employees inboxes. To do that, they analyzed anonymized voluntary provided data from their Phishing Simulator. A high click rate among users clearly highlights what specific cybersecurity training is required, they said. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full
video here: Responding to sensitive emails The data showed five topics that yield the best results for the attackers: AI & Tech, Healthcare & Insurance, IT Policies & Compliance, Gifts & Promotions, and HR & Corporate Communications.

AI & Tech was the best-performing topic overall, with themes such as introducing next-gen artificial intelligence having a 45% click-through rate. In other words, almost every other recipient would click on a malicious link and potentially get served malware or share login credentials with threat actors. You may like Almost two thirds of UK workers have received no
training on spotting AI-driven cyber threats NordVPN warns AI is making scams more personal and devastating than ever ChatGPT joins Microsoft, Google in most-impersonated brands online

Healthcare & Insurance lures tricked an average of 28% of the audience, but among the different emails, one stood out. Emails regarding a sanitary inspection report reached a 92% click-through rate. IT & Policies were third with a 26% click-through rate, followed by Gifts & Promotions (24%).

Two-thirds (66%) of recipients clicked an email inviting them to wear their national teams football jersey and win a prize. HR & Corporate comms yielded
a 22% click-through rate, with emails raising sensitive and high-interest internal topics being especially dangerous, Kaspersky said. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get
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People naturally respond to sensitive and highly contextual emails,
especially when phishing mimics their exact workflow or local specifics. Knowing this, cybercriminals make their traps more personalized and this
trend is set to accelerate with the rise of generative AI, said Svetlana Kalashnikova, Security Awareness expert at Kaspersky.

Fortunately, proper cultivation of cyber vigilance demonstrates measurable risk reduction: regular training and attack simulations drastically reduce phishing susceptibility rates from 60% to a mere 57%, according to KASAP effectiveness analytics. To protect people and businesses from
human-targeting threats, we strongly recommend that organizations implement ongoing cybersecurity awareness program for all employees.

According to Kaspersky, phishing remains the most prevalent cyber-incident
for businesses at any stage of growth and ranks top among incidents leading
to damaging business consequences. At the same time, attacks on humans grow more sophisticated, faster, and broader in scope and are, thanks to
Artificial Intelligence (AI) now becoming a multi-stage effort. What to read next These are the AI fakes you need to warn your friends and family about Microsoft login pages are being abused as hackers try and lure in unlucky victims Fake calendar invites hit thousands of businesses in Microsoft credential phishing campaign Spotting a phishing email Before Artificial Intelligence (AI), phishing emails were relatively easy to spot. Since they were mostly written by threat actors who arent native English speakers, their language was rather clunky and could not properly convey the style or the
tone set up by the legitimate companys communications team.

AI has now made malicious emails almost indistinguishable from legitimate communications, pushing identification further down the infection chain: towards links and attachments, as well as the overall sentiment.

A few things remain the same for all weaponized emails: the sense of urgency. Most legitimate organizations would not threaten their customers with account suspensions within 24 hours. They would also not host their documents on unrecognizable third-party services, and would not share attachments in executable formats.

Double-checking the domain from which the email is being sent is still a good way to spot an attack, too. Most phishing emails originate from a stolen
email address, or one created on a public service. The UK postal service does not have a Proton email account.

Therefore, raising awareness, training, and doing simulations, remains the number one way to defend in 2026. The best antivirus for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best antivirus 1. Best overall: Bitdefender Total Security 2. Best for families: Norton 360 with LifeLock 3. Best for mobile: McAfee Mobile Security Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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