Malicious customer email alert
17 July 2025

MRS has been notified that some people have received a phishing / fake email purporting to be from MRS.

This message was last updated at 11am, Monday 21 July.

Key updates:

• The most important thing you can do if you have received / clicked on this phishing email (see description below) is change the password on your email software and introduce two-factor (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA). Most email packages allow you to enable this increased protection quickly and simply.
• Please do not ignore MRS email communications if they appear to be authentic (see guidelines for telling the difference below). MRS will continue to contact customers in the usual way via our scheduled marketing commmunications which have not been affected . 
• Your MyMRS account is safe. You do not need to make any changes to your web account on this website  (mrs.org.uk).
• What is MRS doing to secure our systems and your data? 

  We have taken a number of steps to resolve this issue to ensure that this incident does not affect any more MRS systems. We have disabled the affected account, reset all passwords and enforced the multi-factor authentication (MFA) for O365 applications. All equipment and profile used by the account have been isolated and kept for further forensics. We have retained a forensic IT specialist to review all MRS systems to ensure the system is not compromised in any other way.  At present there is no evidence that the MRS systems have been compromised beyond this specific incident.

What does the phishing email look like?

The phishing email subject line is:

Samantha Driscoll shared "THE MARKET RESEARCH SOCIETY" with you

The contents of the email look like this:

The email address the malicious email comes from is Samantha.Driscoll@mrs.org.uk

• If you receive an email from this email address DO NOT RESPOND OR CLICK ANY LINKS contained within it.
• If you have clicked on the link, DO NOT RESPOND TO ANY FOLLOW UP EMAILS containing 'a proposal' or a verification code. 
  
  

If you have NOT received this email you do not need to do anything.

How to identify a scam email

• Are you expecting an email form MRS? 
• If not and the email does not look genuine call us on + 44 (0207) 490 4911 for the MRS Reception or + 44(0) 207 566 1820 for the membership team. 
• Is the email from MRS? 
  -Check it is from MRS domain @mrs.org.uk
• Do you know/have contact with the person sending the email? 
  - If from fred.bloggs@mrs.org.uk and you have never had any contact with Fred, you should contact MRS to confirm whether they are legitimate. 
  
  

What to do if you receive a suspicious email

• Do not open the email. 
• Do not reply to the email. 
• Do not click on any links in the email. 
• Do not call any phone numbers within the email. Instead, call MRS on + 44 (0) 207 490 4911 for Reception or + 44 (0) 207 566 1820 for the membership team. 
• Following confirmation that the email is not from MRS, please contact your IT Team/supplier (if you have one) and ask for them to block the email domain and undertake their usual investigations. 
  
  

What to do if you have accidentally given information to the spammers/scammers: 

• If you have one, contact your IT Team/Data privacy team letting them know what information you have given to the Spammers/Scammers. 
• Contact MRS and other relevant parties (e.g. your bank if you supplied financial details) informing them of the information you have given to the Spammers/Scammers. 
• Consider changing your password to any systems that may be implicated (email, computer etc).

What else can we all do to protect our data?

• MRS takes every opportunity to protect your data and ensure that our data systems and those of our partners and suppliers meet the highest cyber security standards. You can find out more in our privacy statement here: https://www.mrs.org.uk/privacy-policy
• To minimise the risk of data breaches, we encourage members and customers to regularly change your password and ensure that it is unique to this website. Do not use the same password that is used for other websites in case it has been compromised.
• To change your password: log into your MyMRS account as usual and in ‘Settings’ go to the section ‘Change your username or password’.
  
  

If you have any queries please contact info@mrs.org.uk

Thank you,

The MRS Team