phishing \FISH-ing\ noun
: a scam by which an e-mail user is duped into revealing personal or confidential information which the scammer can use illicitly

“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 e-mails that appear to come from banks requesting recipients to verify their accounts by typing personal details, such as credit card information, into a Web site that has been disguised to look like the real thing. Such scams can be thought of as “fishing” for naive recipients.

Of course, I assume that the majority of people who find their way here already know what phishing is and how to avoid phising scams. However, you can look at this as a reminder to educate those around you who don’t know about or understand phishing, so that one day we won’t have to receive 487 phishing e-mails a day.