Employee punished after falling for company's 'Chipotle Day' phishing email. Then Chipotle reached out — for real
'That just seems like lying with an extra punishment,' a user said.
As cyber scams continue to grow, companies are coming up with more awareness campaigns, alerting employees about phishing risks. Matt Pena's (@mattpenacomedy) fiancée works for a company that seems serious about such training programs. The organization sent out an email to all its employees, informing them about 'Chipotle Day' in the office. Matt's fiancée, who was overjoyed with the news, later realized it was a part of her company's "phishing test" that she failed miserably. However, as Matt's video explaining the incident continued to gain traction, Chipotle, the restaurant company, reached out with a surprise.
@mattpenacomedy #corporatelife #corporate #email #phishing #comedyvideo #funnystory ♬ original sound - Matt Pena
Matt's fiancée received an email from her job, announcing that the company would be doing "free Chipotle" in the office as part of the team-building initiative. The employee was excited that she immediately put in her order, without realizing it was all part of her company's phishing test. "She went to work on Tuesday, and it turns out it was one of those phishing test emails, and she failed miserably," Matt explained.
Since his fiancée had failed the test, she was asked to attend a 3-hour course to learn about the dangers of clicking on dangerous emails. "But in her defense, I think it's demonic that for a phishing email campaign, the company let her go to the Chipotle website and fill out her order like it was normal. That was next-level mind fu***** by the company," he added. Matt's video quickly went viral on TikTok, receiving over 5 million views. Surprisingly, the reel reached Chipotle, the food chain, and they replied in the comments, saying, "This isn't a phish. Check your dms."
According to the 2024 report of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, consumers lost $16 billion due to scams, fraud, or cybercrime in a year. Looking at the shocking data, the company's initiative to make employees aware of cybersecurity isn't exactly wrong, but the path they chose to lure the workers into the phishing test is debatable.
Meanwhile, reacting to the story, a user, @xiumya, commented, "I would report all company emails as phishing after that. They're never going to catch me slipping again. 'Need that report done by Monday? Nope, that sounds like phishing to me, Susan.'" Similarly, @ali wrote, "That would give me the perfect excuse to avoid any future team bonding. 'Ooh, sorry, I had no idea you wanted me in the office. I thought it was phishing.'"
A user who goes by @duelofthefates999 on TikTok recalled, "My company did this, but with end-of-year bonuses. They cut them one year and then sent out a phishing email telling us to fill out a form to choose our end-of-year appreciation gift. It was a phishing test. Completely diabolical." Defending the employee, @violet.codes asked, "How is an email from the company lying about an employee benefit phishing? That just seems like lying with an extra punishment."
Another user on the platform, @sara, commented, "I get why she got tricked. Once, a supplier of ours sent an email that you could win an Amazon gift card if you rated them at this link. Shady. Emailed our sales contact and all. Turned out to be real." @lutetiumandh2o wrote, "That was so mean! And also, if they had to take the training in the office, they should have at least still given her the Chipotle."
You can follow Matt Pena (@mattpenacomedy) for more lifestyle stories.
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