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The Hawaii State Judiciary received multiple reports of an email scam involving bogus pretrial notices purporting to come from the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals.
The scam appears to be worldwide, said Tammy Mori, director of communications for the judiciary system, noting that court offices have received calls about the email from individuals in Hawaii, on the mainland, and even in the Czech Republic in central Europe.
The notice states that a complaint has been received and a court date has been set, Mori said. The email then instructs the individual to click on a link to confirm details of the trial.
Mori advises email recipients to not click on the link or respond to this email scam.
In general, she said, 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 the Hawaii State Judiciary is investigating the matter in tandem with the Honolulu Police Department and the state Department of Public Safety.
The state department yesterday issued a warning to the public about a telephone scam involving sheriff deputies impersonators.
According to the warning, the imposters have claimed to be serving warrants to people who did not show up for jury duty and offer to clear the warrant if the victims pay for a product or service.
The Sheriff Division said in a statement that deputy sheriffs "will never call people about warrants having to do with jury duty or solicit the purchase of anything."
Anyone having received such a call is asked to contact the Sheriff Division at 587-1352.
If you receive an email you are not sure about from the Hawaii State Judiciary, please contact the Hawaii State Judiciary Public Affairs Office at pao@courts.hawaii.gov or call (808) 539-4909.
