Fake Court Summons and Legal Notice Scam by email

How it looks by email, the red flags and what to do.

An email gives the scammer room to look official: a signature, a fake invoice, an attachment and a button that goes to a lookalike login page. Fake Court Summons and Legal Notice Scam is one of the ways this shows up: A WhatsApp or email shows an official-looking court notice or arrest warrant and offers to settle the case for a fee. Courts do not work this way.

What fake court summons and legal notice scam looks like by email

• A generic greeting instead of your name.
• A login page that opens from the email and asks for your password and OTP.
• A sender address that is almost, but not exactly, the real domain.

The scammer builds a PDF from templates found online and fills in your name. The message may arrive after a loan app or a debt collector call, or out of the blue. It uses legal words and a case number that cannot be traced. A WhatsApp profile photo of a person in a lawyer's coat adds to the impression that this is a real matter.

Red flags to check on the email

• A court notice arrives on WhatsApp from an unknown number.
• It asks you to settle by paying a part of the amount today.
• The payment is to a personal account or UPI ID.
• The notice has no verifiable case number or court details.
• It carries a surprise invoice, refund or legal notice.
• The sender address has an extra word or letter.

What to do

1. Do not call back or pay anything.
2. Ask a lawyer or a legal aid office you find yourself to look at the notice.
3. Check any case on the official court service by typing the address yourself.
4. Check the full sender address, not just the display name.
5. Report it as phishing in your email app and delete it.
6. If you typed a password on the page, change it at once and turn on two-step verification.

Use Report phishing in your email app. If money or accounts are affected, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call 1930 at once with the account details and amount.
2. Tell your bank through the number on your card so it can try to hold the transfer.
3. File a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in with the PDF and chat history.
4. Do not pay a second demand; keep all documents safe for the complaint.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio Sentinel's scam check reads text you paste from the message and the chat, and shows reasons such as a threat of arrest, a settlement demand and fake authority. The Money Shield checklist asks you to verify before sending money and lets you involve a trusted contact. It cannot verify a PDF's authenticity or check court records, and it does not give legal advice.

Full guide: Fake Court Summons and Legal Notice Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: WhatsApp, phone call.

Questions