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

---

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

Example Sentences

Depositing small amounts of money with accompanying phone numbers is a relatively common phishing scam to trick you into calling fake customer-support numbers.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026

It does not offer malware or phishing protection, both of which are provided by some competitors.

From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026

AI has made this type of attack more dangerous because it can generate thousands of personalized phishing emails to collect more passwords faster.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026

At this point, Ukrainian online activists from volunteer group InformNapalm decided to exploit the situation, launching a successful phishing operation that persuaded Russian soldiers to reveal details of their Starlink terminals.

From BBC • Feb. 18, 2026

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

From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin