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To prove the point that users will continue to click links, regardless of how obvious it is that they shouldn't, I worked with the person in charge of the monthly phishing trainings at $dayjob last month. Historically, they have used the hated ruses like fake gift cards, and I wanted to try to get away from that, especially during the holidays. We ended up using something to the effect of the following:

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Hello <first name>,

Happy Holidays. This is the monthly phishing test. Yes, really. It's not a trick. Use the <phishing reporting function> to report this as phishing. If you do not know how to use <phishing reporting function>, feel free to ask a colleague. If you still have questions, search for <phishing reporting function> on <internal docs site>.

Do not click the following link as it is there for metrics and will cause you to be assigned phishing awareness training: <phishing training 'malicious' link>

Sincerely,
IT Security Team
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I don't know how well it was received by users, but I do know that we still had more clicks than two other months in 2023, despite being explicitly told not to click the link. Users will always click links with their link-clicking machines. Relying on their discretion is either ignorant, or I expect in some cases, malicious in that there will always be a scapegoat to blame for the inevitable breach.

#phishing #infosec