Phishing’s early years saw a transformation from small-scale scams to a fully-fledged cyber threat, evolving alongside the internet’s rapid growth. After its initial emergence with AOL in the mid-90s, phishing found new avenues as online activity increased. By the turn of the millennium, the nature of phishing attacks had grown more strategic and financially driven, no longer confined to simple pranks or individual account thefts.

As e-commerce gained momentum with platforms like PayPal, eBay, and Amazon, phishers recognized a much larger potential: financial data. Early phishing emails mimicked legitimate companies and services, with attackers posing as banks, online stores, and credit card companies. These messages urged recipients to verify their accounts, settle outstanding payments, or claim a refund by clicking on links. These links led to carefully crafted fake websites, often indistinguishable from the real ones, where users would unknowingly enter their personal information, giving phishers access to their finances.

This shift marked a significant turning point. Phishing was no longer just about tricking users into giving up their AOL credentials—it had become a gateway to serious financial fraud. The combination of convincing email designs and realistic-looking websites made phishing attacks more effective and more dangerous. It wasn’t just individual users who were at risk anymore; entire businesses began to fall prey to these schemes.

One of the most infamous examples of phishing during this era was the wave of attacks targeting PayPal users in the early 2000s. PayPal, which was revolutionizing online payments, became a prime target. Phishers would send out emails, often with official-looking logos and branding, claiming that there was suspicious activity on a user’s account or that they needed to confirm their identity to continue using the service. Unsuspecting users, eager to protect their accounts, would click through to fake PayPal sites and enter their login details, only to find their accounts drained of funds shortly after.

These early phishing attacks were alarmingly effective. By preying on people’s trust in major institutions and creating a sense of urgency, phishers were able to manipulate even cautious users. Financial losses mounted, and businesses began to realize that phishing was no longer just a fringe issue—it was a mainstream cyber threat that needed immediate attention.

At the same time, a more targeted and personal form of phishing began to emerge: spear-phishing. Rather than casting a wide net, spear-phishers focused on specific individuals, often within companies. Using personal details gathered from public sources or earlier breaches, they crafted messages that seemed authentic, sometimes even appearing to come from the recipient’s boss or a colleague. These emails didn’t just ask for login details—they requested sensitive company information, payment authorizations, or access to confidential systems.

One notable spear-phishing attack occurred in 2006, when cybercriminals sent emails to high-ranking employees of several U.S. defense contractors. These emails contained what appeared to be important documents, but instead, they carried malware that allowed the attackers to infiltrate secure systems. This breach was a wake-up call, highlighting the potential for phishing to go beyond financial theft and into the realm of corporate espionage and national security threats.

By the mid-2000s, phishing had matured from an opportunistic scam to a sophisticated, multi-layered threat. It wasn’t just the broad, scattergun approach that defined phishing’s early days—now it was also a targeted, methodical effort to exploit trust and steal vast amounts of data. The increasing reliance on email and digital communication across industries meant that phishing attacks were only growing more frequent and more dangerous.

Governments, corporations, and individuals began to understand that phishing had moved beyond its “early years” of deception and mischief—it was now a cornerstone of the modern cybercrime economy, one that would require ongoing vigilance and sophisticated defenses to counter.