phishing

noun

phish·​ing ˈfi-shiŋ 

: the practice of tricking Internet users (as through the use of deceptive email messages or websites) into revealing personal or confidential information which can then be used illicitly

The most common form … is called phishing, a one-two punch using both email and Web browsing to trick people into typing confidential information into Web sites that look like the sites of real companies, especially financial institutions.

—Walter S. Mossberg

Social engineering tactics, such as phishing schemes, are often used by attackers to obtain valid credentials or other personal information.

—Jack Morse

see also spear phishing compare smishing

Did you know?

Phishing is one of the many new computer-related terms that have found their way into the general lexicon over the past decade or so. Its "ph" spelling is influenced by an earlier word for an illicit act: "phreaking." Phreaking involves fraudulently using an electronic device to avoid paying for telephone calls, and its name is suspected of being a shortening of "phone freak." A common phishing scam involves sending emails that appear to come from banks requesting recipients to verify their accounts by typing personal details, such as credit card information, into a website that has been disguised to look like the real thing. Such scams can be thought of as "fishing" for naive recipients.

Examples of phishing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As GenAI tools surge in accessibility and sophistication, a new era of cyber risk is emerging—one not defined by ransomware or phishing but by synthetic realities. —Jason Crawforth, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025

But in this case, the phishing email originated from a fake domain at npmjs[.]help. —Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 8 Sep. 2025

Asia-Pacific banks face a high-risk landscape where criminal networks use generative AI for identity fraud, phishing and financial scams. —Ashish Thapar, Fortune, 1 Sep. 2025

Though consumer Gmail and Cloud accounts were not directly compromised, the incident has triggered an aggressive wave of phishing and impersonation attacks targeting users across the platform. —Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

respelling of fishing, with ph- probably after phreaking

First Known Use

1996, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing phishing

• SMS phishing
• spear phishing

Rhymes for phishing

• dishing
• fishing
• swishing
• wishing
• overfishing

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Kids Definition

phishing

noun

phish·​ing ˈfish-iŋ 

: a scam by which an Internet user is fooled into revealing personal information which can then be used illegally

phisher

-ər 

noun

Legal Definition

phishing

noun

phish·​ing ˈfi-shiŋ 

: a fraudulent operation by which an e-mail user is duped into revealing personal or confidential information which can be used for illicit purposes (as identity theft)

Etymology

alteration of fishing (probably influenced by phreaking illegal access to a phone system)