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Your Phishing Simulations Are Too Easy – Here’s How to Fix Them



If your phishing tests are so obvious that even your 90-year-old bookkeeper spots it and moves on, what exactly are you teaching?


  • No one is falling for an email from "HR@TotallyNotAScam.com".

  • That fake Amazon order confirmation? Try harder.

  • And if your employees know exactly when phishing tests are coming, you’ve already lost.


Real cyberattacks don’t come with flashing warning signs. They’re subtle, well-crafted, and designed to blend in.

So why are we still sending phishing simulations that look like they were made in Microsoft Paint?


Here’s how to make phishing tests worthwhile.



1. Make Phishing Simulations Realistic

(Stop Insulting Intelligence)


If your phishing test looks like it was made by a bored intern in five minutes, it’s teaching employees nothing.


  • Real attackers don’t use broken English and Comic Sans.

  • They don’t send emails from “IT-Support@DefinitelyNotAScam.com.”

  • They aren’t throwing in spelling mistakes anymore just to give you a fighting chance.


💡 Example: A company ran a phishing simulation using a fake "Zoom meeting invite" that looked identical to a real one. Click rates spiked 3x higher than previous tests because it felt real—just like an actual attack would.


How to Fix It:


✔ Use actual phishing tactics. Real-world attacks mimic trusted brands, internal emails, or urgent finance requests.

✔ Design emails that look legitimate. Use proper branding, signatures, and sender names that employees recognize.

✔ Test different phishing angles. Not every scam is about clicking a dodgy link—some steal credentials, and some trick employees into sending money.

If your phishing test wouldn’t fool a toddler, it sure as hell won’t train an adult.



2. Stop Making Phishing Tests Predictable


If employees know exactly when phishing tests are coming, you’ve already lost.


  • Same day, same time, same format.

  • Sent at 10 AM every second Tuesday.

  • Everyone gets the same email.


Great. Now the office cyber geek is warning everyone, and your test has just become a group project.


💡 Example: A security team noticed employees texting each other when phishing tests were sent. So they switched to randomized delivery — different templates, different times, and different employees. Click rates dropped 40% in three months.


How to Fix It:


✔ Send phishing tests at different times. If employees expect them, they’re useless.

✔ Use multiple phishing templates. If everyone gets the same email, the first person to notice ruins the test.

✔ Test different departments separately. The finance team gets finance scams, HR gets job scams, and executives get targeted CEO fraud attempts.

Predictable phishing tests don’t measure awareness—they measure who saw the warning first.



3. Make Training Actually Useful

(Don’t Just Punish Failures)


If employees fail a phishing test and all they get is an "Oops, you clicked!"  message, what are they learning?


💡 Example: A company ran phishing simulations but never explained why employees failed. When they started sending instant feedback with breakdowns of red flags, click rates dropped by 50% in six months. Turns out, teaching works.


How to Fix It:


✔ Give instant, detailed feedback. If someone clicks, show them exactly what they missed and how to spot it next time.

✔ Don’t shame employees. Security should be about learning, not punishment.

✔ Reinforce good habits. Celebrate employees who report phishing attempts instead of just highlighting the failures.

The goal isn’t to catch employees—it’s to teach them.



Final Thought: If Your Phishing Tests Are Too Easy, You’re Training for a Fairytale, Not Real Attacks


Phishing simulations should replicate real-world scams—not serve as a box-ticking exercise.


  • Make them realistic. If employees can spot them instantly, they’re pointless.

  • Make them unpredictable. If they know it’s coming, you’re testing nothing.

  • Make the training useful. If failing doesn’t teach them anything, you’ve wasted everyone’s time.


If your phishing tests aren’t challenging employees to think, you’re just running a security awareness pantomime. Do better. 🤙

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