According to Internet records, the first mention of the word "phishing" dates back to January 2, 1996, by hackers who stole America Online accounts and passwords. Some say the term "phishing" was influenced by the word "fishing”. Similar to fishing. Phishing is also a method of "fishing out" valuable data such as usernames, and passwords in a sea of raw information. Hackers usually use the letter "ph" instead of "f," referring to the original form of hacking known as phone phishing. The creator of Blue Box, John Draper (aka Captain Crunch), coined the term "Fricking." Freaking refers to the technique of breaking into telecommunications systems.