Spyware and Viruses
 

Spyware is designed to allow unauthorized access to computer systems. Spyware can be used to steal your personal information. Some spyware programs can detect the numbers and letters you enter on your keyboard such as passwords. 

• Spyware and viruses are both malicious programs that are loaded onto your computer without your knowledge. Spyware disguises itself as a legitimate application and embeds itself into your computer, to monitor your activity and collect information.
• Viruses spread by infecting computers and then replicating. Viruses are designed to make copies of themselves quickly using up your computer's memory. Some viruses can transmit across computer networks.

Spyware and viruses are both serious threats to the security of your computer.

Email and fraudulent websites 

Sometimes criminals may send you email that looks like it has come from a financial institution. These phony emails ask you to go to a website that also looks like the bank’s site and provide your personal account information. Some of these phony emails even caution that if you don't do this, your account may be suspended. But the website is also a fake, and this is a fraud attempt.
This is the most common type of online fraud, and is called "phishing and spoofing". Criminals send these phony email messages or direct someone to a fraudulent website for one goal, to steal personal and financial information.

If you should ever receive an email that appears to be suspicious, do not reply to it or click on the link it provides. Simply delete it.
 

Pop-up advertisements 

Pop-ups are the advertisements that "pop up" in a separate browser window. When you click on some of these pop-ups, it's possible that you're also downloading "spyware" or "adware."
Sometimes, criminals create pop-up ads that look like they come from a respected financial institution and ask you to enter personal financial information, but Republic Bank and most other financial institutions will never ask you to verify personal financial information in pop-ups.
 

Fraudulent Phone Calls and Numbers 

Vishing is the criminal practice of using social engineering and Voice over IP (VoIP) to gain access to private personal and financial information from the public for the purpose of financial reward. The term is a combination of "voice" and phishing.
When the victim answers the call, an automated recording, often generated with a text to speech synthesizer, is played to alert the consumer that their credit card has had fraudulent activity or that their bank account has had unusual activity. The message instructs the consumer to call the following phone number immediately. The same phone number is often shown in the spoofed caller ID and given the same name as the financial company they are pretending to represent.
Consumers are advised to be highly suspicious when receiving messages directing them to call and provide credit card or bank numbers. Rather than provide any information, the consumer is advised to contact their bank or credit card company directly to verify the validity of the message.
 

Mobile Phone Security 

Smishing is a form of criminal activity using social engineering techniques similar to phishing. Smishing victims receive SMS messages. Known as "smishing," these text messages might ask a recipient to register for an online service -- then try to sneak a virus onto the users' device.
Some messages warn that the consumer will be charged unless he cancels his supposed order by going to a Web site that then extracts such credit card numbers and other private data.