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

Previous waves of reservation hijacks have seen hotels hacked in order to get access to the hotel's Booking.com account and send out phishing emails and text messages.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

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

Artificial intelligence is making cyberattacks increasingly sophisticated and costlier for businesses, reinsurer Munich Re said Wednesday, warning of methods ranging from highly personalised phishing emails to computer-generated, convincing fake identities.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

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

From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026

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

From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin