Most Common Phishing Email Themes of 2023

Cofense Intelligence reviews 2023 phishing campaigns by theme, showing trends across major (Finance, Notification, Shipping, Response), moderate (Document, Voicemail, Travel Assistance, Fax, Legal), and minor (Benefits, Taxes, Job Application, Closing) categories, with Finance dominant, Q3/Q4 having the highest variation, and seasonal spikes (e.g., Benefits in Q1/Q4, Taxes in Q3). The report highlights tactics such as reply-chain spoofing/hijacking and brand/attachment spoofing, and notes malware associations (QakBot in May; Remcos/XWorm/njRAT/Async RAT in Spanish Legal-themed lures) to guide detection, training, and phishing simulations.