Lawyers across the country are being besieged by scam emails that seem to be coming from the federal judiciary, mimicking notices of electronic filings. Federal district courts and bankruptcy courts are now sending out warning notices, urging lawyers to be wary before blindly clicking on or downloading anything so that they don’t fall prey to this dangerous phishing scheme.
Reuters notes that according to a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the judiciary “moved quickly to alert the public so people could protect themselves.” Here’s some additional information:
If a recipient replies to the false email, they are sent another email with a link to access a document that leads to the malicious website, the judiciary advised lawyers in notices issued by trial courts from California to New York to Texas.
The courts said lawyers should validate cases through the federal judiciary’s official electronic filing system if they receive the emails. The courts urged attorneys not to download attached files or click on links from unofficial sources.
Sources provided us with the following warning notices they received from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Here’s what a sample of the fraudulent NEF email looks like, courtesy of the Southern District of Florida:
24116FraudulentNEFNotification
“You’re required to provide a response to the filing by Wednesday November 6th, 2024.” This seems urgent enough to entice any lawyer to download an attachment — but please, don’t. You could be accidentally releasing access to your personal files or your firm’s business files to a hacker who may demand a ransom.
Hopefully no lawyers fell for this phishing attempt, but this serves as a sobering reminder for all law firms that they need to be on top of their cybersecurity. That includes making sure client data is secure, protecting the firm network from hackers, and educating their employees about best practices.
US federal courts warn of email scam targeting lawyers [Reuters]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.