SINGAPORE — There has been a recent spate of phone calls and phishing email messages from scammers impersonating court officers, the Supreme Court warned in a statement on Wednesday (April 22).

Identifying themselves as Supreme Court officers over the phone, the scammers would tell their victims that they have pending cases before the High Court or the Court of Appeal.

They would then ask for the victims’ attendance at the court hearings as well as personal information, such as their National Registration Identity Card number or Foreign Identification Number.

The Supreme Court strongly advised recipients of such calls not to provide any personal or financial details to callers.

It also advised the public not to respond to calls from an unknown number that is prefixed with a plus sign, indicating it is likely to be an overseas call.

"Supreme Court officers will not call you to inform you of a pending case or request personal information," the court said.

Those whose attendance is required in court or who are required to provide information for a pending case will receive a Registrar's Notice or correspondence from court telling them about the case or to request information.

Separately, the Supreme Court said it had been alerted to potential phishing email messages claiming to be from the Supreme Court but sent from the email address "kk [at] sunyouth.jp". These phishing messages would request that the victims click on a "secure Sync" link provided in the email.

The Supreme Court strongly advised the public not to click on any link or open any attachment in such messages. Genuine email messages from the Supreme Court Registry would usually be sent from the email address "SUPCOURT_Registry [at] supcourt.gov.sg", it added.

Those with hearing-related queries may contact the Supreme Court by phone on 6557 7495 or by emailing SUPCOURT_Registry [at] supcourt.gov.sg.

To provide information on similar scams, the public may dial the police hotline on 1800 255 0000 or visit www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.