Phishing

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A typical phishing email

Phishing is the term used to describe the process of attempting to fraudulently aquire confidential information such as usernames, passwords and credit card numbers by pretending to be a trusted organisation that the user recognises.

Phishing is usually carried out using e-mail or instant-messanging services, and pretend to be from an organisation that is well known to the user, such as a bank, online payment processor (e.g. PayPal), auction site (e.g. eBay), social networking site (e.g. Facebook) or even the IT administrator of their employer or ISP. These Phishing communications will typically direct users to enter their details at a fake website which bears a strong resembelance to the website of the organisation they are masquerading as.

If a user enters details into a Phishing website, such as their username, password, or other confidential information, it will most likely be used by criminals to steal their identity.