What is Phishing?

Phishing is defined as
"A type of deception designed to steal your valuable personal data, such as credit card numbers, passwords, account data, or other information. Phishing is typically carried out using e-mail (where the communication appears to come from a trusted website) or an instant message, although phone contact has been used as well" (usadata.com/marketing-glossary-eMarketing.html#P)

From what i have read about it, Phishing is not a positive thing in society. It is a scam that results in stolen personal details and therefore many unhappy customers. However it is increasing. There are now phishing scams which trick people into using a different browser bar to steal your details. Because of phishing, people are suspicious of emails sent from unknown senders, are more wary about using the internet and do not want to participate in internet activities such as online banking, as their details could be stolen. This is negative for banks, websites and other aspects of the internet, in which they would be more successful with customers also using the internet to access them.