North Dakota Residents Beware: Scammers Targeting With Fake Court Summons

Even the most savvy North Dakotan can fall for a text, phone call, or email scam, and con artists are getting viler and more cunning over time.

Get our free mobile app

Someone as despicable as this latest con artist sends test messages or emails, including COURT SUMMONS NOTIFICATION, or words to that effect.

Your intellectual self realizes that you haven't done anything, but your emotional self reacts by being anxious.

The con artists are after this. Their goal is to trick you into clicking on a link within the email itself so they may collect your personal information. The inclusion of the reference to Court Case #3294294 gave this email an air of genuineness.

There are a total of 3 links embedded in this scam email; each one could spell trouble for you should you click on it.

The body of the scam seems official enough that it could be legit, while vague enough to be sent out to anyone in the nation without having to curtail it to a specific state, county, or city.

The scam will exactly match or closely resemble the following:

Hereby we inform you that you are suspected of violating of the Federal Law under Title 16 USC 8763. Related hearing will be held next week at 3:30PM in Courtroom 6B. Case number is 6865-133638210.  - Alison Solis - Chief Secretary Prosecutor

There have been several web searches and web articles asking about Ms. Solis (who it seems does not actually exist) and her title, which is also official enough-sounding but another pure fabrication, at least in the U.S.

Immediate indicators that this is a scam are that there is no specific address, location, or anything really tangible. This would be considered a Phishing Scam.

According to the North Dakota Attorney General's website, here is what you need to know about this and other scams:

1. Scam artists pretend to be people we want to trust, like government officials, law enforcement, bank staff, prospective employers, or even family members.
   • Never give out personal information (such as your address, date of birth, social security number, bank or credit card information) or send money in response to an unexpected contact, no matter how urgent it may seem.
2. Don’t trust your caller ID; it’s not who you think it is.
   • Readily available technology makes it easy to create a fake name and number to display on the caller ID or as the “sender” of a text message.
3. If you are asked to send or wire money or to buy prepaid cash cards, stop!
   • A legitimate government agency or business will never ask you to wire money, buy prepaid cards (including prepaid gift cards such as iTunes, Best Buy, etc.), or deposit money into another person’s account. If the supposed government agency or business sends you a check to deposit into your account first so you are “not out any money,” this is a sure sign it’s a scam.
   • No legitimate sweepstakes or lottery will ask for money upfront in order to receive your winnings. It doesn’t matter what reason they give; if they want money (or gift cards) first, it’s a scam.
   • As soon as you complete the deposit/transfer transaction or read off the numbers on the back of the prepaid card, your money is gone. It is not possible to get that money back.
4. Hang up, every time.
   • Don’t “press 1” to be taken off a call list; all it does is confirm to the scammers that someone answers that number and that you listened to the message, which will result in more scam calls.