What crime involves communications pretending to come from legitimate organizations to gain sensitive information?

Phishing is a type of cybercrime that specifically targets individuals by sending fraudulent communications that appear to be from reputable sources, such as banks, email providers, or well-known companies. The main goal of phishing is to deceive the recipient into revealing sensitive personal information, such as passwords, credit card numbers, or social security details.

Phishing often takes the form of emails or messages that encourage the user to click on a link or download an attachment, which can lead them to a fake website that mimics a legitimate one. The deception hinges on the trust that people have in these familiar organizations, making phishing a particularly insidious form of online crime.

In contrast, spamming generally involves sending unsolicited bulk messages, often for advertising purposes, without the deceptive intent of stealing sensitive information. Scamming is a broader term that can include various types of fraud but does not specifically refer to the act of impersonating legitimate organizations to collect sensitive data. Hacking typically involves unauthorized access to systems or networks, which is distinct from the manipulation involved in phishing schemes. Thus, phishing is the precise term that encapsulates the act of misleading communications from reputed organizations to harvest sensitive information.