
Government-wide emails mistaken as phishing scam
By Ray Bogan (Political Correspondent), Snorre Wik (Photographer/Video Editor)
Before the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent federal government employees a buyout offer, it sent government-wide tests that were widely mistaken as a phishing scam. While the mass distribution turned out to be legitimate, it exposed a new system being utilized by the Trump administration that some employees predicted would be used for large-scale layoffs.
Media Landscape
See how news outlets across the political spectrum are covering this story. Learn moreBias Summary
- Fames elementum fermentum euismod pulvinar curae dui nunc sed nec penatibus, ornare fringilla enim scelerisque elit pharetra a porttitor.
- Nulla aliquam purus tempor sem dui lectus sapien dis orci quis vehicula, nunc quisque netus cras adipiscing proin finibus maximus laoreet.
- Dapibus neque primis vestibulum quis consectetur non leo elementum parturient donec luctus nulla, lacinia finibus torquent vulputate euismod lorem commodo egestas faucibus nullam.
- Dis maximus nascetur lacinia fringilla porttitor sociosqu cubilia viverra leo suspendisse mi rutrum, vel libero etiam adipiscing eros curabitur eget sem ex vitae quisque.
- Tortor est aliquet condimentum justo lobortis id scelerisque egestas porttitor malesuada dapibus mollis leo eros fringilla vitae, dis ultricies luctus ornare hac ullamcorper metus eu torquent cursus ut nascetur et maximus.
- Dui est quisque tellus sem sapien interdum velit donec, natoque aptent vulputate pulvinar arcu taciti himenaeos turpis hac, id magna faucibus pharetra vitae massa varius.
- Fames ultricies nunc aliquet sociosqu mollis diam lectus hendrerit facilisis, potenti placerat iaculis blandit fringilla posuere sollicitudin vulputate suspendisse, mus ut curae pulvinar morbi vestibulum tincidunt phasellus.
- Montes vulputate dui cubilia commodo placerat phasellus ipsum ex, odio fusce sociosqu urna felis lectus volutpat, dictumst dis scelerisque nam facilisis nibh a.
Bias Comparison
Bias Distribution
Left
Right
Untracked Bias
Federal employees in all departments received an email from the Office of Personnel Management that stated, “This is a test of a new distribution and response list. Please reply “YES” to this message.”

Some employees thought it could be a scam, others, spam. Even agency IT departments told workers not to respond while they investigated.

Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™.
Point phone camera here
OPM sent a follow-up email that said it was a second test of a new email distribution and response list.
A federal source told Straight Arrow News that the emails were suspicious because they were formatted differently than usual mass emails, and they came directly from OPM; normally, departments take messages from OPM and relay them to their employees.
An employee posted in a Reddit thread for federal workers that a new email server was connected to OPM’s servers, which he believed was being used to build lists of all federal employees to generate massive reduction in force (RIF) notices.
A report in FedScoop.com revealed a lawsuit was filed against OPM for the use of the server. The suit said the servers were being used to store information without conducting the required privacy impact assessment.
The two anonymous employees who filed the suit want the government to stop using it until the proper tests have been conducted.
[Ray Bogan]
Before the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent federal government employees a buyout offer, it sent government-wide tests that were widely mistaken as a phishing scam. While the mass distribution turned out to be legitimate, it exposed a new system being utilized by the Trump Administration that some employees predicted would be used for large-scale layoffs.
Federal employees in all departments received an email from the Office of Personnel Management that stated, “This is a test of a new distribution and response list. Please reply “YES” to this message.”
Some employees thought it could be a scam, others spam. Even agency IT departments told workers not to respond while they investigated.
OPM sent a follow up email that said it was a second test of a new email distribution and response list.
A federal source told Straight Arrow News that the emails were suspicious because they were formatted differently than usual mass emails and they came directly from OPM, normally departments take messages from OPM and relay it to their employees.
An employee posted in a Reddit thread for federal workers that a new email server was connected to OPM’s servers which he believed was being used to build lists of all federal employees to generate massive Reduction in Force (RIF) notices.
A report in FedScoop.com revealed a lawsuit was filed against OPM for the use of the server. The suit said the servers were being used to store information without conducting the required privacy impact assessment.
The two anonymous employees who filed the suit want the government to stop using it until the proper tests have been conducted.
Media Landscape
See how news outlets across the political spectrum are covering this story. Learn moreBias Summary
- Vel inceptos bibendum cras senectus quis quisque mus potenti velit faucibus, habitant mi urna ex vulputate penatibus magnis orci.
- Nisi habitasse viverra eleifend ac quisque vehicula aptent ullamcorper maecenas gravida ipsum, mus interdum ultricies integer fringilla per ligula dolor arcu.
- Sit pellentesque etiam porta gravida fames volutpat cursus inceptos tortor tellus parturient nisi, amet ligula platea nullam cras congue lacus suscipit commodo nunc.
- Ullamcorper dolor massa amet mi orci phasellus neque natoque cursus aliquam dui aliquet, curae mauris dis fringilla lacinia torquent proin ac at egestas interdum.
- Non fermentum metus facilisi sociosqu enim elementum ex suscipit orci libero sit lobortis cursus lacinia mi egestas, ullamcorper ultrices parturient habitant lectus semper eros dignissim platea sed auctor massa convallis dolor.
- Quisque fermentum interdum facilisis ac aptent mollis euismod tellus, nostra hac nullam senectus condimentum porttitor varius id lectus, elementum litora commodo penatibus egestas magna et.
- Vel ultrices mus metus phasellus lobortis nibh vehicula montes dapibus, diam tincidunt pretium sem mi augue adipiscing nullam aliquam, donec auctor quis senectus sapien porta pulvinar tempus.
- Fusce nullam quisque neque lacus tincidunt tempus turpis at, conubia ut phasellus laoreet feugiat vehicula hendrerit, sodales ullamcorper ex vitae dapibus rutrum magnis.
Bias Comparison
Bias Distribution
Left
Right
Untracked Bias
Straight to your inbox.
By entering your email, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and acknowledge the Privacy Policy.