Phishing
✓ Last verified 14 Sep 2026
The short version
Phishing is a fraudulent email or message designed to look like it's from a legitimate institution, tricking you into clicking a malicious link or entering credentials on a fake site.
A phishing message typically impersonates a bank, government agency, or well-known company, creating urgency ("verify your account now") to push a click before the recipient examines it closely. The fake link usually leads to a site designed to look identical to the real one, capturing login credentials or card details entered there. Checking the actual sender address and URL carefully (not just the display name) and never clicking a link in an unsolicited message are the core defenses - see our article on common financial scams for the broader pattern this fits into.
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