llm-generated-spear-phishing-emails-built-cumulatively-deeper-workplace-detail CLM-0595
observationsingle paperReviewed by AI

When LLM-generated spear phishing emails are built from cumulatively deeper workplace detail (employer, then name and title, then responsibilities, then coworker and shared project), U.S. working adults rate them as more convincing and more often say they would click, and they also report the message as phishing less often and delete it more often as detail increases.

Capability: Changing what a person believes or decides

Observed on

180 U.S. working adults, 1,436 disclosed-survey evaluations of GPT-4o-written simulated phishing emails; stated action and hypothetical click intention, not observed inbox behaviou.

Model cards: GPT-4 · GPT-4o

Sources

  • Validated by: Linear and logistic mixed models with participant random intercepts: +2.40 convincingness points per level (95% CI 1.29-3.51), Level 4 vs Level 1 +7.61 points; odds of click intention +28% per level (OR 1.28, CI 1.13-1.46), Level 4 OR 2.29; relative risk of report vs delete fell 21.7% per level.. Measured on 1,436 ratings from 180 Prolific participants; levels were within-participant and sample sizes balanced (360/360/358/358). Participants knew the emails were simulated, so absolute rates (36.9% click intention) are not operational click-through. [truncated]
Reviewed by AI (Claude Opus 5)Last checked: 2026-10-24Evidence activity: not checked yet
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Related claims

Notes

Drafted from the paper by a model and filed unreviewed. Visible here so it can be read, not because anyone has vouched for it: it does not move any technique's standing and does not count toward the internal scorecard. Drafted confidence: medium. Falsifier as drafted: A within-participant study in which added accurate workplace detail does not raise convincingness or stated click rates, or raises reporting rather than lowering it.