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What is phishing?
'Phishing' is when criminals use scam emails, text messages or phone calls to trick their victims. The aim is often to make you visit a website, which may download a virus onto your computer, or steal bank details or other personal information.
This page explains how to report phishing attempts, and protect yourself from scammers.
Why you should report phishing scams
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is a UK government organisation that has the power to investigate and take down scam email addresses and websites.
Reporting a scam is free and only takes a minute. By reporting phishing attempts, you can:
- reduce the amount of scam communications you receive
- make yourself a harder target for scammers
- protect others from cyber crime online
As of July 2026 the number of reports received stands at more than:
58m
reported scams
Which has resulted in:
256k
scams being removed across 454,800 URLs
What to do next
Make yourself a harder target
Criminals use information about you that’s available online (including on social media sites) to make their phishing messages more convincing.
You can reduce the likelihood of being phished by thinking about what personal information you (and others) post about you, and by reviewing your privacy settings within your social media accounts.