Phishing and Scams
Phishing tricks people into giving away information.
About this topic
Phishing is a social engineering attack in which criminals pretend to be a trusted person or organisation, such as a bank, school or delivery company, to trick you into revealing passwords, payment details or installing malware. It usually arrives by email, text message, phone call or fake website. Variants include spear phishing, aimed at a specific person, and smishing and vishing, by text and voice.
Warning signs include urgent or threatening language, such as your account will be closed, unexpected attachments, a sender address that is slightly wrong, links whose real destination differs from the displayed text, spelling mistakes and requests for sensitive information. Scammers also use fake prizes, tech support calls and romance or investment scams.
For example, a message saying your parcel is held and asking you to pay a small fee on a lookalike site aims to steal card details. To protect yourself, stop and think, do not click links, go to the official site yourself, check the sender, use multi-factor authentication, and report suspicious messages. A common misconception is that only careless people are fooled; scams are designed to exploit urgency and trust, and anyone can be targeted. Tell an adult if you make a mistake.
Key ideas
- Suspicious links and urgency
- Check sender addresses
- Never share codes
Quick check
Use cases: where Phishing and Scams helps
- Homework: review the key idea behind Phishing and Scams before you start a problem set.
- Exam revision: use the quick check to test whether you can recall Phishing and Scams without notes.
- Visual learning: play with the interactive lab to see how Phishing and Scams changes when you adjust its inputs.
- Teaching a friend: explain Phishing and Scams in your own words, then compare your version with the key ideas.
Computing ideas run phones, search engines, games and the wider internet.
Frequently asked questions
What is Phishing and Scams?
Phishing tricks people into giving away information.
What will I learn in Phishing and Scams?
Suspicious links and urgency. Check sender addresses. Never share codes.
Is Phishing and Scams part of Computer Science?
Yes. It is one of 80 Computer Science topics on LearnViz HighSchoolEdu, with 3 key ideas, a live animation and a quick check.
Does the Phishing and Scams lab work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. The animation resizes to fit your screen and supports touch, so you can drag, tap and slide with your finger.
How should I study Phishing and Scams?
Read the summary and key ideas first, play with the interactive lab to see the idea in motion, then answer the quick check. If you get a question wrong, go back to the key idea it tests.
Do I need an account, and is my progress saved?
No account is needed. Marking a topic as learned is saved in your own browser, so it stays on that device and is not sent to a server.