Monday, February 16, 2015

This Court Scam is easy to spot

Dear Dave,

This is to inform you to appear in the Court on the February 22 for your case hearing.
Please, do not forget to bring all the documents related to the case.
Note: If you do not come, the case will be heard in your absence.

The copy of Court Notice is attached to this email.

Regards,
Benjamin Michael,
Clerk of Court.


I received the above email yesterday. attached to it was a zip file that contained a virus. This email scam has 2 clever tactics, but a bunch of easily spotted flaws.

Clever Tactics

For starters, this scam uses my name to address me. This tactic lends a bit of credit to it's claim of being official. However, my name is part of my e-mail. Therefore it takes no effort to find it. The email also uses a coming date for the "court case" that creates urgency, as well as informing me that if I do nothing, I may have problems because the case will be heard in my absence.

Obvious signs of a scam

This email is, however, an obvious scam. For starters, there is only my first name used (exactly as it appears in my email address) an official communication from a court would use my full name. You would also see more information about the court in an official email (such as the type of court: civil, criminal, etc, and the location of the court. (ex Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Illinois) An official court document would also have contact phone numbers.

Considering the fact that many people (even in this day and age) do not have internet access, official court documents, and summons still come in the normal mail. Any email that claims to be a court summons should be considered suspect. If it has a phone number, call it to determine if it is legitimately from a court. If it says what court it is from, look up that court separately and call them. If there is an attachment... don't open it.