As verbs the difference between phishing and pretexting

is that phishing is present participle of lang=en while pretexting is present participle of lang=en.

As a noun phishing

is the act of sending email that falsely claims to be from a legitimate organization. This is usually combined with a threat or request for information: for example, that an account will close, a balance is due, or information is missing from an account. The email will ask the recipient to supply confidential information, such as bank account details, PINs or passwords; these details are then used by the owners of the website to conduct fraud.