Train firm’s ‘worker bonus’ email is actually cybersecurity test

A rail union has hit out at a “cynical and shocking stunt” after a train company emailed staff to promise a bonus to workers who had run trains during the pandemic – only to reveal it was in fact a test of their cybersecurity awareness.

West Midlands Trains emailed about 2,500 employees with a message saying its managing director, Julian Edwards, wanted to thank them for their hard work over the past year under Covid-19. The email said they would get a one-off payment as a thank you after “huge strain was placed upon a large number of our workforce”.

However, those who clicked through on the link to read Edwards’ thank you were instead emailed back with a message telling them it was a company-designed “phishing simulation test” and there was to be no bonus. It warned: “This was a test designed by our IT team to entice you to click the link and used both the promise of thanks and financial reward.”

The leader of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) union said it was “crass and reprehensible”, especially given that one worker at West Midlands Trains had died from Covid-19 and many others had fallen ill with the virus.

The TSSA general secretary, Manuel Cortes, said: “This was a cynical and shocking stunt by West Midlands Trains, designed to trick employees who have been on the frontline throughout this terrible pandemic – ensuring essential workers were able to travel.

“The company must now account for their totally crass and reprehensible behaviour. They could and should have used any other pretext to test their internet security. It’s almost beyond belief that they chose to falsely offer a bonus to workers who have done so much in the fight against this virus.”

“Our members have made real sacrifices these past 12 months and more. Some WMT staff have caught the disease at work, one has tragically died, and others have placed family members at great risk.”

Cortes said the company should apologise and now pay an actual bonus, to begin to make amends.

“In that way the company can begin to right a wrong which has needlessly caused so much hurt.”

A West Midlands Trains spokesperson said: “We take cybersecurity very seriously. We run regular training and it’s important to test your resilience.

“The design of the email was just the sort of thing a criminal organisation would use – and thankfully it was an exercise without the consequences of a real attack.”