Hong Kong Judiciary warns of fake District Court summons emails, latest sent from soongwing@netvigator.com
The Hong Kong Judiciary warned on 20 October 2026, following a further report from a member of the public, of phishing emails falsely claiming to be from the Registrar of the District Court with a fraudulent summons a…
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Source: info.gov.hk · published
What happened
The Hong Kong Judiciary warned on 20 October 2026, following a further report from a member of the public, of phishing emails falsely claiming to be from the Registrar of the District Court with a fraudulent summons attached and instructions for recipients to follow. The Judiciary said the latest phishing email was sent from the account soongwing@netvigator.com and that over the past two weeks it had received multiple enquiries about suspicious emails sent from different domains. The Judiciary stresses the emails and summonses were not issued by it and that court summonses are served only by post or by hand, never electronically. It advises the public not to open the emails or follow their instructions, and to contact the police if in doubt; the case has been reported to the police. The address is on Netvigator, a legitimate Hong Kong internet provider's email service; the individual account may have been compromised or abused, and Netvigator is not involved.
How the scam works
The Judiciary says the emails falsely claim to come from the Registrar of the District Court and carry an attached 'summons' that looks as if it was issued by the courts, together with instructions for the recipient to follow. Over the past two weeks it received multiple public enquiries about similar emails sent from a number of different domains, so the sending address changes and should not be relied on to spot the scam.
A summons can be frightening, and the scam relies on that fear to push people into acting before they check. The Judiciary's notice does not say what the instructions ask for, but fake court and government emails commonly try to get recipients to open an attachment, click a link, give personal or bank details or pay money to 'settle' a case. The key fact is simple: the Judiciary says a summons issued by the courts is served either by post or by hand, and it does not serve summonses by email or any other electronic means. Any email presenting itself as a court summons is therefore not genuine.
The Judiciary advises the public not to open such emails or follow any instructions or requests in them, to stay alert, and to contact the Police immediately if in doubt.
Source
Hong Kong Government press release, "Judiciary alerts public again to suspicious emails" (issued 20 October 2026).
Red flags
- An email claiming to be a court summons; Hong Kong courts don't serve summonses by email.
- A 'District Court Registrar' sender using a personal or unrelated email address.
- Attachments or instructions you are told to follow urgently.
- Requests for personal details or payment to resolve a case.
If you were targeted
- 1Don't open the email, its attachment or any links.
- 2Don't follow its instructions or reply.
- 3If you're unsure, check with the Judiciary through its official website or phone numbers, or contact the Police.
- 4If you opened an attachment, run a security scan and change passwords used on that device.
- 5Report it to the Hong Kong Police; the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre hotline is 18222.