‘Phishing’ is the term used to describe email sent with the intention of tricking the recipient into divulging personal (often financial) information to the perpetrator.
A recent ISC Diary post provides some examples of recent phishing email received by ISC handler Johannes Ullrich. The associated analysis is helpful for learning how to distinguish legitimate from phishing email.
ISC is the Internet Storm Center, which “provides a free analysis and warning service to thousands of Internet users and organizations, and is actively working with Internet Service Providers to fight back against the most malicious attackers.” The site and associated services provide a wealth of information regarding Internet security.