‘I hit send with a satisfied smirk’: Head of finance blames employee for losing company over a million dollars in an email CCed to the senior staff, employee replies all with proof it wasn't their fault

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jul 14, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

Everyone dreads sending emails in the workplace; it's one of those things you never get used to doing, no matter how long you are at your job. It feels like emails are the place where you work is being tested the most, and every small mistake can lead to the end of your career, even if the correspondence is only between you and your boss.

We can think of countless ways emails can go terribly wrong if you do not give them your undivided attention, and if you do not check them at least a dozen times before you hit send. Once you hit send, that email will forever be there, in someone else's inbox, ready to be judged and used against you. 

If you do things right and you ensure your emails can never be turned against you, you can actually be the one who uses others' emails against them. Which is exactly what happened with the employee in the story below.

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  • After being accused in an email CCed to all the higher-ups in the company, this employee knew they could not sit in silence and let others blame them for something they didn't do. That is what led them to hit ‘reply all’ on the email and provide proof that the one to blame is actually the person who sent the accusatory email in the first place…

    Keep scrolling to read the rest.

  • 01

    Be careful who you include in the CC list on emails - it might come back to bite you!

    I used to work for a major financial services company and was in charge of their back office systems - this is where trades are
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10529090048
    via Goodboy Picture Company

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 03
    where trades are processed and all the money and stock movements actually take place after the trade is done.
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 04
    One day I received an email from the head of finance going on about how one of the systems I took care of had "lost over
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 05
    a million dollars". She claimed that she had spent the whole morning looking and the money is just missing and so the system must have lost it.
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 06
    In addition to sending the note to me she had copied the COO, the CIO and a host of other senior staff.
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 07
    This was a bit out of character - I usually got along fine with this person - so I took her at her word and started to investigate.
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 08
    Fortunately, this was a system I knew intimately and so I was able to quickly track down what had happened.
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 09
    I then hit REPLY ALL and sent the following. "I have looked into the matter and discovered that the amount in question
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 10
    was moved using a manual journal transfer under the reference of KB01254 on <date>. As you are aware the journal references are a combination of a unique
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 11
    number and the initials of the user that made the transfer and that KB is the initials assigned to you..."
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 12
    I hit the send button with a satisfied smirk and heard nothing in response. The next time I saw her we both pretended like nothing had happened :)
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 13
    F6 Fwd Reply F7 6 0
    via joxxxxjo

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 14
    CoderJoe1 So the revenge was replying to all?
    via CoderJoe1
  • 15
    Stunning-Laugh549 OP Simple as that. She was made to look pretty foolish in front of her boss and her peers. Trust me, if you knew the company...it was an uncomfortable position for her to be in.
    via Stunning-Laugh549
  • 16
    Upset_Ad147 I had to send someone a report I put together. He replied back, copying everyone, that it was incomplete. I double checked
    via Upset_Ad147
  • 17
    and mine was good but it was multiple pages so I replied all back with "scroll down". Didn't get any response back.
    via Upset_Ad147
  • 18
    Sea_Voice_404 Got "yelled at" over email by a senior developer once for something I told to one of our customers, and he ended the email with "I can't believe you
    via Sea_Voice_404
  • 19
    did this." He cc'ed my manager, director, his manager, and several other people. I very calmly pulled up the email he had sent me the week prior with that exact info, including "yes it's ok to tell to our customers"
    via Sea_Voice_404
  • 20
    and sent it to him and everybody the cc list. Never got an apology or anything, other than my manager being super amused at our next 1:1.
    via Sea_Voice_404
  • 21
    Hellrazed Had a nurse manager years ago CC the educator team following an incident that was beyond my control, with the advice they'd given me. I replied all with
    via Hellrazed
  • 22
    questions how her advice fit into best practice, and she ended up getting dragged to the educators for recommending a practice that would outwardly harm patients. I love the cc function.
    via Hellrazed

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boss workplace-stories employee manager job email tales-from-the-workplace finance reddit story petty revenge ceo workplace Reddit company funny
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