Phishing is the practice of trying to trick people into giving secret financial information by sending emails that look as if they come from a bank. The details are then used to steal people's money, or to steal their identity in order to commit crimes.
[computing]
phishing in British English
(ˈfɪʃɪŋ)
noun
the practice of using fraudulent e-mails and copies of legitimate websites to extract financial data from computer users for purposes of identity theft
Word origin
C21: from fishing in the sense of catching the unwary by offering bait; computer-hacker slang oftenreplaces f with ph
phishing in American English
(ˈfɪʃɪŋ)
noun
the practice of sending fraudulent e-mail that appears to be from a legitimate business, as a bank or credit card company, in an attempt to deceive an individual into disclosing personal information, as a password or an account number
Word origin
< fishing (see , fish (sense 6)), with sp. infl. by phreak
Examples of 'phishing' in a sentence
phishing
It was not part of a phishing or fraud attempt.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It was not part of a phishing or fraud attempt.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Trojan viruses are another form of phishing you need to protect against.
The Sun (2012)
Sometimes a phishing email encourages you to fill in an attached form and send it back.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
All major banks have fraud departments which are engaged in a constant war against phishing.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The bank do not reply to emails sent into the phishing email account due to the volume we receive.