Phishing

In the field of computer security, phishing is a fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by luring an innocent as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Damages by phishing
It is estimated that between May 2004 & May 2005, approx 1.2 million users in the US suffered by phishing, totaling approx $929 million. US businesses lose an estimated $2 billion per year as their clients become victims. 3.6 million adults lost $3.2 billion in the 12 months ending in August 2007. In UK losses from web banking fraud mostly from phishing almost doubled to ?23.2 million in 2005, from ?12.2m in 2004.