Phishing / Fishing Karma

It was only writing the first article, ‘e-mail phishing alert!‘, that I made the connection between ‘phishing‘ – fraudulently acquiring someone else’s property by electronic means; and ‘fishing‘ – fraudulently acquiring someone else’s body for food or sport (both pronounced ‘fishing‘).
Yeah OK, I am a bit slow. I just hadn’t thought of it before.

It’s all a bit sneaky really, Phishers fraudulently acquire someone else’s property by electronic means; and fishermen pretend that sharp hook’s a tasty meal for little fishies to eat.
Of course, humans who get caught out electronically tend to fare better than the fish, who have got a lot more to lose once they’ve taken the bait. But the principle’s the same.

phishing karma 12 share xport pngo


Phishers and Fishermen

So the similarities between phishers and fishermen?
Some ideas I had ~

  both lack compassion for their prey, not caring the emotional, mental or physical pain their victim suffers.

  both throw out sharp little hooks to catch their prey on. This is disguised as bait to catch their victims. Fish get caught on the hook hidden by a tasty snack; and people get duped by an electronic hoax.

  their victims are random ~ whoever was unlucky enough to be caught at the time.

 it takes time and patience to catch random victims. That’s a lot of time and concentrated effort to put into ruining someone’s day, or ending their life; this makes for abysmal karma.

  …which is how we can develop compassion for phishers and fishermen.

Developing Compassion for Phishers and Fishermen considering their Karma

These people don’t have much idea of the misery they’re causing themselves in the future. (It’s nothing compared to the present suffering they’re causing.)
It’s definite that the negative karma reaped will be similar in nature, but worse in effect than it’s cause, due to how karma works. These unpleasant experiences can appear later in the perpetrator’s life, but will most likely be in future lives.*
What a terrible curse to hand down to their future selves 😦

Considering this makes it easier to feel compassion for fishermen, especially those for who whom it’s their livelihood. They’re also very good reasons never to fish; or to cut down, with the intention of giving up if you do. The section on  ‘Karma’ in Joyful Path* gives some wise advice on this BTW.


* from ‘Karma’,  Joyful Path of Good Fortune p248 my book, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.
o the Urban Dictionary definition of phishing includes the ‘collecting logos and graphics from a genuine source (e.g. Citibank) and making fraudulent e-mails out of them, to obtain data about a person/s
o fish image by Jas (in ‘Being Phished. A Karmic Effect of Fishing?’ which begins these ideas here.)
0 Phishing Alert! Where it all started.


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