How common is it to have a "work" email hacked?

[CindyLouWho]

My job for a Publisher requires me to send out emails sporadically. The other day I received an email back that was not a typical reply. In the Subject Line of the email the person wrote," Favor" and said they needed my "Urgent Help....." ,not earth-shattering but weird. My question is my boss thinks the email was hacked but I'm wondering how common that really is and if it's maybe just someone being a smart a--?

 

[HipGnosis]

That's Spam Email, not a hack.
It's common with all Email.
You send Email to many people. Some of them forward some of your Emails to some other people. Your Email address gets put on a list of known Emails. Spamers buy the list and send their Emails to the addresses on the list.

 

[RadishRose]

Phishing. My company used to send us weird looking emails we should know not to open. When we did, they said we were "caught".

 

[CindyLouWho]

Ok, good to know, I'll just delete it. Thanks.