Issue #102 - This is NOT a phishing email 🎣
Can you spot a phishing scam? | How to keep your business WiFi safe and secure | How to offer secure online shopping | VoIP hacking | 3 businesses, 1 question | Community | Words | Tunes | More
Have cybercriminals targeted you?👾
Welcome to Issue #102 of The Backbone. The free fortnightly newsletter from Bionic
As we said, this is not a phishing email. But would you be able to tell if it was? After all, if we were cyber criminals, we’d do our best to make any phishing email look as legitimate as possible.
We recently surveyed 500 UK small business owners (look out for our 2025 Business Insights Report, coming soon) and one of the questions we asked was whether cybersecurity is a growing priority. More than half of businesses (53%) increased their cybersecurity spending in 2024 to protect themselves from potential attacks
But the real standout figure was that 80% of businesses said they hadn’t been targeted by a cyber attack in the past 12 months.
This begs the question - would you even know if you’ve been the target of cyber criminals?
Let’s look at phishing attacks, which are fraudulent emails designed to trick people into sharing sensitive information. Phishing attacks appear to be the most common type of cyber attack. UK government figures show that 83% of UK businesses that experienced a cyber attack in 2022 reported that the attack originated from a phishing email.
If you’ve ever had an email pretending to be from a legitimate business asking for your details, you’ve been targeted by a cyber attack.
These attacks are often automated and done on a large scale - so probably no need to take it personally - but you still need to be on your guard, especially since these emails are becoming increasingly convincing.
Knowing what to look for can help. Here are ten signs to help you spot a phishing email…
Suspicious Sender Address - The email may look like it's from a trusted source but has a slightly altered domain (e.g.,
support@paypa1.cominstead ofsupport@paypal.com).Generic Greetings - Phishing emails often start with vague greetings like "Dear Customer" or "Dear User" instead of addressing you by name.
Urgent or Threatening Language - Scammers try to create panic, using phrases like "Your account will be closed immediately!" or "Action required now!"
Unexpected Attachments or Links - If an email contains an unexpected file or asks you to click on a link, be cautious—it could be malicious.
Poor Grammar and Spelling Mistakes - Many phishing emails contain awkward phrasing, typos, or strange sentence structures.
Too-Good-to-Be-True Offers - If the email promises free money, lottery winnings, or a huge discount, it’s likely a scam.
Requests for Personal Information - Legitimate companies never ask for sensitive information (passwords, credit card details, etc.) via email.
Mismatched URLs - Hover over a link without clicking—if the URL looks different from what is displayed, it’s a red flag.
Unusual Sender Requesting Payment - Be wary if someone claims to be a coworker or boss asking you to buy gift cards or transfer money to an account.
Lack of Contact Information - Legitimate emails include a valid reply-to address, physical address, and customer support details.
If you're unsure about an email, verify it directly by contacting the company through official channels.
If you’re unsure whether your cybersecurity is up to scratch, check out this advice for small businesses from the National Cyber Security Centre.
This National Cyber Security Centre tool is also useful for checking whether your IP address, website, email, and web browser are vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Check out this Bionic guide to find out more about phishing, smashing, and fishing.
🤝 COMMUNITY
Join our community of small business superheroes 🦸♀️
Small business owners are the superheroes of the high street. But small business owners rarely get their voices heard. Now there’s a place where they can chat, share advice and help each other through the lows and highs of running a business. To get involved, scan or click the QR code above or click the button below to sign up.
🗞 READ
🔒 How to keep your business WiFi safe and secure
Whether you offer guest WiFi for customers or business broadband WiFi for staff, unsecured wireless devices can be a target for cybercriminals. Here’s how to keep your WiFi safe and secure.
🛍️ How to offer your customers secure online shopping
Having an online shop (or e-commerce store) as a small business opens you up to a world of potential new customers and the possibility of more sales. But it can also make your business more vulnerable to hackers and expose your business to scammers from all over the world. Here’s how to keep your business and your customers safe online.
📞 What is VoIP hacking?
Switching to VoIP will help future-proof your comms ahead of the 2027 digital switchover. But, as with any online tech, VoIP systems can be a target for hackers. To help protect your business from a VoIP attack, we’ve put together this handy guide that outlines some telltale signs and a few simple ways to keep your business secure online.
🗣 SHOUTOUT
#BionicBusinessStory - 3 businesses, 1 question 🤔
We asked three business owners about their biggest challenges in the year ahead. Here’s what they said…
Bionic - What do you see as your biggest challenges in 2025?
🍻 “To keep moving. We can't stand still in this business, we constantly need to keep thinking of new ways to attract customers whilst keeping the existing ones happy. We have a new kitchen taking over this month so have some big plans to start filling the weekends (supper clubs, breakfast clubs, comedy nights, cinema clubs etc). Rates are going up, as are our costs, so we need to combat that additional cost with a nice full pub as often as possible.
”Staffing is always a challenge, finding good staff for hospitality is always a tough gig as it is so often seen as 'student work' and not generally pursued or respected as a career. We are very lucky with who we have, a great team, but one full-timer has just left which does leave a gap to fill.” Kate Davidson - The Old Ivy House
🐶 “We find cash flow is always a big issue for small businesses when undertaking any sort of work that doesn't have direct remuneration. We still have plenty of fixed costs and bills to pay and whilst market research and event testing may pay off in the long run, in terms of paying bills due this month, it's not much help. Also, I believe a lot of events/hospitality businesses are in a strange place at the moment as COVID obviously took revenues down to zero. After the fog lifted everyone went a little crazy and events were very busy for a while. Now the storm has calmed a little and things are back to normal - basically pre-COVID levels - things feel quieter so there's getting used to that. Along with all of that, there's the ever-increasing list of costs. Venue hire is up, bills are up, resource costs are up and if we charge more for tickets, fewer people come!” Marcus Ackford - The Pup-Up Cafe
🛹 “Over the last couple of years sales have dipped so my main challenge will be to maintain the spirit and momentum to keep positively pushing and talking about the beautiful things I make.” Mike Holmes - The Long Shot Exp
📊 BUSINESS
Get your business costs sorted 💷
Bionic is the comparison site for your small business. We compare a range of business essentials to help you save time, money, and hassle.
Our tech-enabled team will answer all your questions in simple terms, and help you find the best deal on business energy, insurance, phone, broadband, or finance. No jargon. No-fuss. #BeABionicBusiness 🦾
🎧 LISTEN
Playlist 🎶
We don’t like to repeat ourselves here at The Backbone, but there’s a playlist we keep going back to - largely because it’s updated every day by Les Roberts, Senior Content Manager at Bionic, as part of his #feraltrolleys project on Instagram. The #feraltrolleys playlist now has 176 (possibly more by time you read this) songs from bands including…you’ll just have to play it and find out.
Podcast 🎙
Do you want to feel better and live more? Well, have we got the podcast for you? Chosen by Kelly Maskell, Senior Marketing Manager at Bionic, Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee offers easy health life-hacks, and expert advice to debunk common health myths and give you the tools to revolutionise how you eat, sleep, move and relax. Then guess what? You can feel better and live…er…more?
👩🤝👩🏾 SHARE
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🏡 HOUSEKEEPING
Check your folders 📁
If The Backbone isn’t landing in your inbox every other Friday, please mark this address as ‘not spam.’ If it isn’t in your spam folder, it may have been moved to another folder, like ‘Promotions’ or ‘Social’.
🚫 STOP
Thanks for making it to the end of another Bionic small business bulletin 🤝🏻
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