Phishing is a kind of online trick. Someone pretends to be a person or company you trust, hoping you will hand over private information.
They are usually fishing for big stuff: your passwords, account logins, or card numbers.
A phishing attack often looks like this. You get a message that seems real. It pushes you to click a link or open an attachment. The link goes to a fake website that looks like the real one. You type your info, and the attacker grabs it.
Phishing comes in many forms: scam emails, scam texts (called smishing), and even scam phone calls (called vishing).
The good news is that phishing has tells. Watch for messages that feel urgent or scary, use a generic "Dear customer" greeting, contain odd links or spelling mistakes, or offer something too good to be true.
So slow down. Do not click suspicious links. Check who really sent it. When in doubt, go to the website yourself instead of using the link, and turn on MFA for extra protection.
What to remember
- Phishing pretends to be someone you trust.
- It wants your passwords, logins, or card numbers.
- Watch for urgency, odd links, and too-good-to-be-true offers.
- Slow down, check the sender, and don't click suspicious links.
Words to know
- Phishing
- A scam that tricks you into giving up private information.
- Smishing
- Phishing by text message.
- Vishing
- Phishing by phone call.
- Red flag
- A warning sign that a message might be a scam.
For grown-ups
Phishing is social engineering that impersonates trusted senders to harvest credentials or deliver malware. Variants include spear phishing (targeted), smishing, and vishing. Defenses: verify out-of-band, inspect links before clicking, never act under manufactured urgency, and enable MFA so stolen passwords alone fail. Report phishing to your provider and to authorities.
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