What is "phishing" and how is it used by identity thieves?

What is "phishing" and how is it used by identity thieves?

Robert Siciliano (Identity Theft Expert and CEO) gives expert video advice on: How can I protect my computer network from identity thieves?; How can I protect myself from identity theft online?; What makes a good password? and more...

Phishing spelt with a "ph" is when black hat hackers, identity thieves, will send millions and millions of emails at a time that look like they're coming from a major bank, your bank maybe, looks like they're coming from PayPal or America Online, or even eBay. And the idea is that they're trying to extract data from you. They're asking you to update your account, to plug in your user name, to plug in your password, to plug in all of your account information. Their goal is to be able to access your accounts, so they'll use a variety of different ruses to con you into giving up that information.