Out-of-Office Responses:

A Common Entry Point for Email Scams

You set it. You forget it. And just like that, while you’re packing your bags, your inbox starts automatically broadcasting something like:

“Hi there! I’m out of the office until [date]. For urgent matters, contact [coworker’s name and email].”

Harmless, right? Maybe even helpful.

But to a cybercriminal, that message is a gold mine.

What Hackers See in Your Auto-Reply

Your out-of-office (OOO) message often contains more information than you realize:

  • Your name and title
  • Dates you’re unavailable
  • Who to contact in your absence (with their email)
  • Internal roles or team structure
  • Travel details (“I’m at a conference in Chicago…”)

This information helps cybercriminals in two ways:

  1. Timing: They know you’re unavailable to catch suspicious activity.
  2. Targeting: They know who to impersonate – and who to target.

That’s a perfect setup for a phishing scam or business email compromise (BEC) attack.

How It Usually Plays Out

  1. You turn on your OOO reply.
  2. A hacker receives it (from a mailing list, a scraped address, or a prior breach).
  3. They impersonate you or your alternate contact.
  4. An “urgent” request goes out – for a wire transfer, login credentials, or a sensitive file.
  5. A coworker, caught off guard, responds – thinking it’s legitimate.
  6. You return to find $45,000 wired to someone you’ve never heard of.

It happens more often than you’d think.

This risk increases if your business involves frequent travel, especially among executives or sales staff. If someone else handles their email during travel – like an admin or assistant – it creates an ideal target:

  • They’re juggling messages from multiple people.
  • They’re used to fast decision-making.
  • They trust the names in the sender field.

One convincing fake is all it takes.

How to Keep Your Business Safe from OOO Exploits

You don’t have to stop using auto-replies altogether – but you do need to be smart about it.

  1. Keep It Vague

Avoid listing names, personal travel info, or specific dates unless absolutely necessary.

Better Example:

“I’m currently out of the office and will respond when I return. For urgent matters, contact our main office at [main phone or email].”

  1. Train Your Team

Remind employees:

  • Don’t respond to urgent or unusual requests over email without verifying them another way.
  • Always confirm sensitive requests via phone or a trusted messaging platform.
  1. Use Email Security Tools

Advanced spam filters, anti-spoofing policies (like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC), and domain protection help prevent impersonation attempts.

  1. Require MFA

Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) for all email accounts. If someone does get a password, MFA adds a critical barrier.

  1. Work with an IT Partner Who Monitors Threats

A proactive cybersecurity provider can flag suspicious logins, phishing attempts, and unusual behavior before it becomes a crisis.

Want to Vacation Without Worry?

We help small businesses build security systems that hold strong – even when your team’s out of office.

Grab a quick 10-minute call—we’ll help you spot the risks and tighten things up.

Protecting your business starts with the details and we’re here to help.