Public Warned of Another Court-Based Scam

Another scam involving court actions has surfaced, this one involving emails supposedly coming from the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals.

Judiciary spokeswoman Tammy Mori said the email refers to a pretrial notice, saying that a complaint has been filed and a court date set.

The email then instructs the recipient to click on a link to confirm details of the court appearance.

Judiciary officials are cautioning the public to not click on the link or otherwise respond to the email scam.

“In general, the public will not be contacted by the Hawaii State Judiciary for official business by email and we do not summon people to court electronically,” Mori said.

Reports of the scam are surfacing worldwide, she said. Fortunately, Mori said, no one who has reported the scam to Hawaii officials has apparently clicked on the link, so it is not known whether it might contain a virus or pitch for goods or services.

Anyone who receives an email of questionable origin can contact the Hawaii State Judiciary Public Affairs Office at pao@courts.hawaii.gov or 808-539-4909.

Earlier this week, the state Department of Public Safety warned of a telephone scam involving calls from someone claiming to be a sheriff deputy serving warrants for people failing to show up for jury duty.

The callers then offer to clear up the warrant if people will pay for a product or service.