A SPAM EMAIL which tells recipients they have been fined for not attending jury duty has been reported to gardaí.

The email purporting to be from the Courts Service has gone out over the last number of weeks and could lead to accounts being hacked.

A statement from the Courts Service said that the mail was a “false instrument”.

“It was not sent from us, by us, or from our IT system.

“It is a false instrument – designed to gather details about the recipient.”

The mail tells recipients that they have not answered a jury summons. But answering the mail causes a second one to be forwarded seeking banking details for payment of a fine.

Providing such information is a recipe for fraud, and has been reported to an Garda Síochana.

“We would never communicate in this manner – nor seek banking details in an e-mail.

“The return address is not one set up, or ever used by the Courts Service.”

Read: Calls for a new emergency health fund to pay for expensive cancer drugs

Raed: Here is why councillors don’t think taller buildings will tackle Dublin’s housing crisis