phishing

/ˈfɪʃɪŋ/noun

The crime of using a fake identity online to get past security and trick people out of private information.

Example sentences

“The email asking for my bank details turned out to be a phishing attempt.”
“Banks warn customers never to click links in phishing emails.”

A deliberate respelling of 'fishing': scammers throw out bait and wait for someone to bite. The two words sound identical.

Often confused with phishing

phishing vs fishing: fishing (noun): The activity of trying to catch fish.

Related words

spamUnwanted messages, usually advertisements, sent out in bulk by email or other electronic means.hackerSomeone who breaks into computer systems or networks without permission, often to steal data or cause damage.authenticationThe process of proving your identity in order to access a computer system or network.antivirusA program that finds and removes harmful software such as computer viruses.biometricConnected with identifying people through their physical characteristics, such as fingerprints.virusA tiny germ, much smaller than bacteria, that gets into living cells and causes diseases such as colds and flu.