TABLE OF CONTENTS
Creating effective phishing simulation emails is essential for testing and improving the cybersecurity awareness of your organization's employees. A key aspect of crafting realistic phishing emails is personalization, which can be achieved through the use of dynamic placeholders. This article will guide you on how to utilize placeholders, formatted as {{fake_[type]}}, to generate personalized content for your phishing simulation campaigns. These placeholders can be easily integrated into your email templates and are replaced with randomly generated, realistic data when the emails are sent out.
Placeholder Types and Usage
Below, we describe the available placeholder types along with their optional parameters, demonstrating how they can be incorporated into your phishing simulation emails.
Avatar
- Placeholder: {{fake_avatar}}
- Options: None.
- Example:
{{fake_avatar}} - Text Value: A URL to a random avatar image.
Alpha
- Placeholder: {{fake_alpha([len])}}
- Options: len - length of the generated string.
- Examples:
{{fake_alpha(5)}}→ ABCDE
Alpha Numeric
- Placeholder: {{fake_alpha_numeric([len])}}
- Options: len - length of the generated string.
- Examples:
{{fake_alpha_numeric(6)}}→ A1B2C3
First Name
- Placeholder: {{fake_first_name}} or {{fake_first_name([sex])}}
- Options: sex - m for male, f for female.
- Examples:
{{fake_first_name}}→ John{{fake_first_name}}→ Jane{{fake_first_name(m)}}→ James
Last Name
- Placeholder: {{fake_last_name}}
- Options: None.
- Example:
{{fake_last_name}} - Text Value: Bond
Full Name
- Placeholder: {{fake_full_name}} or {{fake_full_name([sex])}}
- Options: sex - m for male, f for female.
- Examples:
{{fake_full_name}}→ John Doe{{fake_full_name(f)}}→ Jane Doe
Job Title
- Placeholder: {{fake_job_title}}
- Options: None.
- Example:
{{fake_job_title}}→ Project Manager
Person Prefix
- Placeholder: {{fake_person_prefix}} or {{fake_person_prefix([sex])}}
- Options: sex - m for male, f for female.
- Examples:
{{fake_person_prefix}}→ Ms.{{fake_person_prefix(m)}}→ Mr.
Business Name
- Placeholder: {{fake_business_name}}
- Options: None.
- Example:
{{fake_business_name}}→ Tech Innovations LLC
Address
- Placeholder: {{fake_address}}
- Options: None.
- Example:
{{fake_address}}→ 123 Main St, Springfield
City
- Placeholder: {{fake_city}}
- Options: None.
- Example:
{{fake_city}}→ Springfield
Country
- Placeholder: {{fake_country}}
- Options: None.
- Example:
{{fake_country}}→ United States
Country Code
- Placeholder: {{fake_country_code}}
- Options: None.
- Example:
{{fake_country_code}}→ US
State
- Placeholder: {{fake_state}}
- Options: None.
- Example:
{{fake_state}}→ Illinois
Street
- Placeholder: {{fake_street}}
- Options: None.
- Example:
{{fake_street}}→ Liberty Ave
Zip
- Placeholder: {{fake_zip}}
- Options: None.
- Example:
{{fake_zip}}→ 12345
Amount
- Placeholder: {{fake_amount}} or {{fake_amount([max],[sym],[min])}}
- Options: max - maximum value, sym - currency symbol, min - minimum value.
- Examples:
{{fake_amount}}→ $1,234.56{{fake_amount(1000,100)}}→ $500.00{{fake_amount(min:10,max:100,sym:€)}}→ 30.00€
Card Number
- Placeholder: {{fake_card_number}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_card_number}}→ 1234 5678 9012 3456
Card CVV
- Placeholder: {{fake_card_cvv}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_card_cvv}}→ 123
IBAN
- Placeholder: {{fake_iban}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_iban}}→ DE89 3704 0044 0532 0130 00
Transaction Type
- Placeholder: {{fake_trans_type}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_trans_type}}→ Deposit
Transaction Description
- Placeholder: {{fake_trans_desc}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_trans_desc}}→ Payment for Invoice #1234
Domain
- Placeholder: {{fake_domain}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_domain}}→ example.com
- Placeholder: {{fake_email}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_email}}→ john.doe@example.com
IP
- Placeholder: {{fake_ip}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_ip}}→ 192.168.1.1
IPv4
- Placeholder: {{fake_ip4}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_ip4}}→ 192.168.1.1
IPv6
- Placeholder: {{fake_ip6}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_ip6}}→ 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334
MAC Address
- Placeholder: {{fake_mac}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_mac}}→ 00:1B:44:11:3A:B7
Password
- Placeholder: {{fake_password}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_password}}→ Abc123!
Phone Number
- Placeholder: {{fake_phone}}
- Options: None.
- Examples:
{{fake_phone}}→ +40 712 345 678
Number
- Placeholder: {{fake_number}} or {{fake_number([max],[min])}}
- Options: max - maximum value, min - minimum value.
- Examples:
{{fake_number}}→ 42{{fake_number(100,10)}}→ 55
Float
- Placeholder: {{fake_float}} or {{fake_float([max],[min],[dec])}}
- Options: dec - number of decimal places, max - maximum value, min - minimum value.
- Examples:
{{fake_float}}→ 123.45{{fake_float(100,10)}}→ 55.24{{fake_float(max:100,min:10,dec:1)}}→ 55.2
Weekday
- Placeholder: {{fake_weekday}} or {{fake_weekday([abbr])}}
- Options: abbr - whether to abbreviate the weekday name (true or false).
- Examples:
{{fake_weekday}}→ Monday{{fake_weekday(true)}}→ Mon
Month
- Placeholder: {{fake_month}} or {{fake_month([abbr])}}
- Options: abbr - whether to abbreviate the month name (true or false).
- Examples:
{{fake_month}}→ January{{fake_month(true)}}→ Jan
Future Date
- Placeholder: {{fake_future}} or {{fake_future([years],[format])}}
- Options: years - number of years into the future, format - the formatting of the date.
- Examples:
{{fake_future}}→ 2025-01-01{{fake_future(30,LL)}}→ December 11th, 2040
Soon Date
- Placeholder: {{fake_soon}} or {{fake_soon([days],[format])}}
- Options: days - number of days into the future, but sooner than fake_future.
- Examples:
{{fake_soon}}{{fake_soon(5,YYYY-MM)}}
Past Date
- Placeholder: {{fake_past}} or {{fake_past([years],[format])}}
- Options: days - number of days into the past, format - the formatting of the date.
- Examples:
{{fake_past}}→ 2023-12-31{{fake_past(LL)}}→ September 4 2000
Recent Date
- Placeholder: {{fake_recent}} or {{fake_recent([days],[format])}}
- Options: days - number of days into the past, but more recent than fake_past, format - the formatting of the date.
- Examples:
{{fake_recent}}{{fake_recent(5)}}{{fake_recent(5,LL)}}
Date formats
| Input | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
YYYY | 2014 | 4 or 2 digit year. Note: Only 4 digit can be parsed on strictmode |
YY | 14 | 2 digit year |
Y | -25 | Year with any number of digits and sign |
Q | 1..4 | Quarter of year. Sets month to first month in quarter. |
M MM | 1..12 | Month number |
MMM MMMM | Jan..December | Month name in locale set by moment.locale() |
D DD | 1..31 | Day of month |
Do | 1st..31st | Day of month with ordinal |
DDD DDDD | 1..365 | Day of year |
X | 1410715640.579 | Unix timestamp |
x | 1410715640579 | Unix ms timestamp |
| Input | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
L | 09/04/1986 | Date (in local format) |
LL | September 4 1986 | Month name, day of month, year |
LLL | September 4 1986 8:30 PM | Month name, day of month, year, time |
LLLL | Thursday, September 4 1986 8:30 PM | Day of week, month name, day of month, year, time |
LT | 8:30 PM | Time (without seconds) |
LTS | 8:30:00 PM | Time (with seconds) |
Implementing Placeholders in Your Templates
To use these placeholders, simply insert them into your email template where you want the dynamic content to appear. For example:
- Email Greeting: "Dear {{user_first_name}},"
- Urgent Notice: "Your account will be charged {{fake_amount(sym:$)}} unless you cancel your subscription by {{fake_soon(LL)}}."
When your phishing simulation system processes these templates, it will replace the placeholders with randomly generated, realistic data matching the specified criteria. This approach ensures that each recipient receives a unique and personalized email, increasing the realism of the phishing simulation and testing their ability to identify phishing attempts effectively.