Fraudulent email today does not arrive in broken language or promising prizes; it arrives looking exactly like your work mail — which is why we learn its signs rather than its appearance.
1 Check before you click
Urgent notice: your account will be suspended within 24 hours unless you update your details today.
Click here to verify: https://company-portal.verify-now.co/login
Regards,
Systems Department
1 The sender
The domain is not your company’s — and a capital I stands in for an l.
2 The urgency
A short deadline and a threat, to stop you thinking or asking.
3 The link
The real domain is verify-now.co, not your company’s name.
4 The attachment
An html file that opens a fake sign-in page.
When in doubt: do not reply and do not click. Verify by calling a number you already know — not one given in the message — and report it to your IT support. One message can open the whole network.
The fraud that targets accountants specifically
A message in the name of “the CEO” asking for an urgent and confidential transfer, or one from a “known supplier” telling you their bank account number has changed. The rule is the same in both cases: a change of bank details or a transfer instruction is never approved on the strength of an email alone — only after verification through an independent channel and under the organisation’s approved procedure.
2 Follow-up: so nothing you delegated gets lost
| Tool | Use it for |
|---|---|
| A follow-up flag on incoming mail | What you yourself need to do later |
| A flag on outgoing mail | What you are waiting for a reply on from someone else |
| A reminder with a due date | Something with a deadline that must not slip |
| A task in To Do | Work that needs several steps rather than one reply |
| An “Awaiting reply” category | A weekly review of everything outstanding |
A ten-minute weekly review
Set aside ten minutes at the end of each week to open the “Awaiting reply” category and the flags that are due. You will find what has slipped before anyone asks about it — and that habit alone builds a professional reputation.
3 Signatures and automatic replies
Mohammed bin Hussein Al-Harthi
Accountant — Finance Department
Example Company Ltd
Phone: +966 5X XXX XXXX
Email: name@example.com
Thank you for your message. I am out of the office from 1 to 8 October and back on Sunday.
For anything urgent please contact Saad at saad@example.com.
I will pick up everything else on my return.
- The signature: name, title, organisation and a way to reach you — no heavy images and no long slogans.
- Two different replies: one internal with the cover arrangements, and a brief one for external senders.
- Set an end date for the automatic reply, or it will still be running after you are back.
- Do not disclose the details of your absence to external parties — “out of the office” is enough.
Chapter 1 summary
- Every message leaves the inbox with one of four decisions.
- The subject carries the action and the deadline, and “what’s needed” comes first.
- Rules and categories sort for you, and search replaces folders.
- The Scheduling Assistant replaces the email exchange over timing.
- Never click a link or approve a change of bank details on an email alone.
4 Test your understanding
Three quick questions
Pick the answer you believe is correct and you will see the result immediately.
1. You receive an email from a “supplier” telling you their bank account number has changed:
Replying to the message reaches the fraudster themselves. Verification has to go through a channel independent of the message.
2. You delegated a task to a colleague and do not want to forget it:
A flag on the outgoing message keeps the follow-up with you without pestering the other person daily.
3. Which of these is not evidence that a message is genuine?
A display name and a signature can both be copied in seconds. What counts is the domain and the link’s destination.