Scam Glossary
Plain-English definitions: phishing, spoofing, smishing, vishing, and more.
- Phishing
- A fraudulent message that tries to trick you into sharing personal information or clicking a malicious link.
- Spoofing
- Making a message appear to come from someone it does not — often a well-known brand or a friend.
- Smishing
- Phishing carried out through text messages (SMS).
- Vishing
- Phishing carried out over the phone.
- Malware
- Software designed to harm your device or steal information.
- Ransomware
- Malware that locks your files until you pay a ransom.
- Impersonation
- Pretending to be a person or organization you trust.
- Social engineering
- Manipulation tactics used to trick people into taking unsafe actions.
- Business email compromise
- A scam in which attackers impersonate an executive or vendor to request a wire transfer.
- Account takeover
- When an attacker gains control of one of your online accounts.