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Alert For Lawyers: Don’t Fall For This Federal Courts Phishing Scam – Above the Law

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.

SDNY BK NEF Scam

FL BK NEF Scam

USDC NEF Scam

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 ZaretskyStaci
Zaretsky
 is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
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hear
from
you,
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