This post is written as a warning to our clients and to alert members of the general public.
A new scam email is ‘doing the rounds’. The email proports to summons the recipient to Court as a witness.
How the scam CPS email looks:
The email appears to be sent from the Crown Prosecution Service. It says “You’ve been witness summonsed to Court”, telling you that you need to attend Court and produce documents to the Court. The email is allegedly from Mr Stevens; Witness Care Unit Agent and is part of “The Crown Prosecution Service online notification project”. There is no online notification service.
In the body of the email, it gives details of “The Court Location and Primary Information”, highlighting a hearing at the following address:
In the Central London County Court
10 November 2016
Before His Honour Judge Parfitt
Royal Courts of Justice
Thomas More Building
Court: 66
4th Floor
Clerk: Mr. Attewell
The above specific details may be different for each email.
The email directs the recipient to “read the subpoena you were sent very closely. This will state exactly what the procedures will be if you fail to do what is required of you”. There is a link in the body of the email which states “Start Time and Case Details” DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK.
Here’s a screen shot of how the email actually looks:
Our findings:
After checking the IP address of the websites identified in the email, it seems that the email originated from a computer in Russia.
We contacted the CPS about the email and were told:
“We are aware that a number of people have received emails which falsely claim to be from the Crown Prosecution Service, including a summons to appear as a witness at court. The CPS does not email witnesses to summon them to court. Anyone receiving such an email should delete it.”
How to deal with the scam email:
Receiving an email like this can be very frightening, and for most people, their first instinct will be to panic. This is exactly what these scammers want. Keep a cool head and do not open any of the links in the email. The links are likely to contain a virus or be a phishing scam aimed at obtaining your personal details for fraudulent purposes.
If in doubt, contact the CPS directly to discuss your concerns and forward a copy of the email to enquiries@cps.gsi.gov.uk.
Remember, the CPS do not witness summons anybody to Court by email.
Article written by Expert Motoring Lawyer Alison Ashworth, Managing Director of Ashworth Motoring Law.
Ashworth Motoring Law is a specialist Law Firm who deal solely with defending motoring offences. If you have been accused of committing a motoring offence and would like to discuss your case in confidence with a specialist motoring law solicitor call 0330 33 22 770 or email enquiries@ashworthmotoringlaw.co.uk.
