phishing

  1. Noun.  (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.
  2. Noun.  The act of circumventing security with an alias.
  3. Verb.  (present participle of, phish) .

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.