phishing

British  

/ ˈfɪʃɪŋ /

noun

1. the practice of using fraudulent e-mails and copies of legitimate websites to extract financial data from computer users for purposes of identity theft

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Etymology

Origin of phishing

C21: from fishing in the sense of catching the unwary by offering bait; computer-hacker slang often replaces f with ph

Explanation

Phishing is a scam in which someone emails a victim intending to trick them into revealing bank numbers, passwords, or other sensitive information. Phishing messages often appear to come from reputable companies. Phishing is a common cybercrime involving fraudulent messages that look very real. The person receiving the email may believe it's from their bank, for example, asking them to confirm their social security number or credit card details. With this information, the attacker can move to identity theft, installing malware, or stealing money directly from the victim's account. Hackers reportedly started using this term around 1995, influenced by phreak, a slang word for someone who hacks into a phone system.

Example Sentences

Outsider has stolen 3.87 million credit card numbers via more than 8,000 fake phishing websites since July 2023, according to the FBI.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026

A phishing email was used to launch the hack which allowed the cyber attackers to install malicious software and it remained undetected within the organisation's systems for 20 months.

From BBC • May 12, 2026

AI is enabling scalable phishing emails, fraudulent texts, impersonation chatbots, cloned-voice scams and automated outreach.

From MarketWatch • May 11, 2026

Rutgers similarly warned users to remain alert for phishing attempts following the breach, while student reporting from Princeton described mounting anxiety during the university’s finals period.

From Salon • May 9, 2026

Once in a while I’d leak stuff about phishing scams.

From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin