Almost 50% of office workers in Leeds have sent e-mail to the wrong person by mistake, often with "disastrous" consequences, according to a report out today.

A young woman in Rothwell sent a highly explicit message meant for her boyfriend to her line manager instead, while another city based Insurance broker forwarded a rant against a company boss to the man himself instead of to a friend.

Research among 500 office staff carried out by Leeds based Credit Management specialists MasterWatch also showed that two out of three had copied people into an e-mail message list by mistake.

Workers were urged to check their e-mails in a bid to avoid so-called e-calamities such as those in the survey, including:
A new business co-ordinator in Garforth who attached the wrong file to a group e-mail of more than 80 new business prospects. Rather than the corporate video she had intended, a joke film showing two rabbits procreating (with sound effects) was sent instead.

An unfortunate job seeker from a bank in the Park Row area of Leeds who sent an e-mail boasting about the elaborate lies on his CV - to the HR director of the company he had just applied to.

An Advertising Agency PA from Wetherby who sent an e-mail outlining the finer details of a particularly decadent weekend to her entire department, instead of the friend she had meant it to go to.

Mike Billington Marketing Manager of Leeds Credit Management Specialists ‘MasterWatch’, said: "There's no doubt that e-mail has made business communications quicker and easier, but carelessness can turn it into an office worker's worst nightmare as we have so scarily revealed whilst talking to new clients across the city. There is ample scope to cause a lot of embarrassment and even damage your reputation, so it pays to think before you press the send key."

For more information on MasterWatch go to www.MasterWatch.uk.com or call MasterWatch on 0113 22-55-100