phishing
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Respelling of fishing (“‘trying to find’”), perhaps to evoke phone, and perhaps by analogy with such respellings as phreak and phat.
[edit] Pronunciation
- Homophones: fishing
- Rhymes: -ɪʃɪŋ
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
phishing (uncountable)
- (computing) The act of sending email that falsely claims to be from a legitimate organization. This is usually combined with a threat or request for information: for example, that an account will close, a balance is due, or information is missing from an account. The email will ask the recipient to supply confidential information, such as bank account details, PINs or passwords; these details are then used by the owners of the website to conduct fraud.
- Can also mean to circumvent security with an alias.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Translations
the act of sending email that falsely claims to be from a legitimate organization
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[edit] Related terms
[edit] Verb
phishing
- Present participle of phish.
