What Does This Mean?
A scam in which attackers pose as a trusted sender to trick people into opening harmful links or attachments or handing over private data such as passwords. It usually arrives as an email, text, social media message or phone call.
EXPLAINER
Cybernews · original source ↗
EXPLAINER
AT&T Business · original source ↗
The preview image is loaded from YouTube when this page opens, so YouTube receives your IP address and browser details, as with any request to another site. The video itself loads only after you click play. Details in our Terms
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
""That urgent message about a locked account is phishing: go to the official site yourself instead of clicking.""
LORE & ORIGIN
Wikipedia links the word to the earlier term phreaking, reports attacks aimed at AOL account details from 1995, and finds the word in writing by March 1997; the AOHell tool of 1994 let users pose as AOL staff and ask for passwords. CISA's guidance lists common warning signs: pressure to act at once, requests for personal or financial data, and links or addresses that are slightly wrong.
MENTIONS OVER TIME
Radar observation data not yet available for this term.
RELATED SEARCHES
TOP PLATFORMS
Not enough Radar data yet to show a platform breakdown.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST HEAR THIS?
CLICK AN OPTION BELOW TO CAST YOUR VOTE.
[ VOTE TO REVEAL COMMUNITY RESULTS ]