what is the difference between spoofing and phishing 
the terms spoofing and phishing are often used interchangeably but they mean different things spoofing uses a fake email address display name phone number or web address to trick people into believing that they are interacting with a known trusted source phishing tricks you into providing personal data that can be used for identity theft many phishers use spoofing tactics to trick their victims into believing they are providing personal information to a legitimate trusted source 2the bottom linepeople have pretended to be other people or the representatives of other organizations since time immemorial however with the advent of the internet and online communications spoofing has become much easier and more widespread websites emails geolocations and phone numbers today can all be spoofed by bad actors to commit crimes steal identities or perpetuate scams knowing how to spot and protect against spoofing is important in the digital age at the same time spoofing can provide anonymity for internet users for legitimate purposes of privacy the use of vpns for instance can mask your location and identity when surfing the web 