Today on the trusty yahoo.com news, i read an article that referred to the new wave of identity spamming as "phishing", defined by this journalist as "The e- mail is an example of "phishing" -- the use of spam, or unwanted junk e-mail, to lure computer users to Web sites that look like those of reputable companies, and to deceive them into divulging personal financial data" and a CNN.com journalist last month defined people who Phish as Phishers: "Phishers first steal a company's identity and then use it to victimize consumers by stealing their credit identities" Does any one know how this word got synonymous with online scam/spammers? Who coined this term? And, bear with me, as i revert back to my days on the american highways following a certain band that shares the same name, is there any connection to the hippie band, Phish? That I doubt, but still curious to why these spammers have this new name...i feel like there are some cultural connotations somewhere... in the dark, -mike -- Mike Ayers Department of Sociology Miguel Hall Manhattan College Riverdale, New York 10471 michael.ayers@manhattan.edu O:(718) 862-7406 F:(718)862-8044 ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through Manhattan College Webmail: http://www.manhattan.edu/