What is Phishing?

Phishing, often used with a counterfeit email, is the act of sending an email claiming to be from a legitimate, trustworthy entity. It is meant to deceive the unsuspecting recipient into divulging confidential information such as password, credit card numbers, and bank account information after directing the user to visit a specified website. The website, no matter how similar it is to the real website, is not genuine and was set up only as an attempt to steal the user's information.