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News & Announcements

Jury Duty Scam

Citizens in the Western District of New York  may receive various forms of false communication (scams) by phone or email. A recent scam involves jury forms with official-looking bar codes sent by email that ask for personal information such as  date of birth, mother's maiden name, etc. For more information about jury scams, click here.
If you have received a phone call or email asking you to provide personal information and/or send payment to avoid arrest or other penalty, it is a scam.

The Court will NOT do any of the following:
1. The Court will NOT send or accept jury forms by email. The Court's official forms do not require personal information such as your mother's maiden name.
2. Serve a warrant by e-mail or fax. Valid warrants will always be served in person by a U.S. Marshal or other law enforcement officer.
3. Call, e-mail, or send a fax to tell you a warrant has been issued.
4. Demand the payment of money in lieu of being arrested.
5. Demand verification of personal information via email or phone call, such as  bank account information.

Scammers, claiming to be a officer or attorney of the U.S. government, have been contacting citizens and demanding payment of money or verification of personal information in order for the subject of the scam to avoid arrest. Scammers have also been sending official-looking jury forms via email to citizens that ask for personal information (phishing). Calls and emails such as these are scams. Such emails may contain Trojan horses or viruses.

What Can You Do?

If you believe that you have been the victim of fraud or have received a scam phone call, phishing e-mail, or fax, contact your local police or sheriff department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation  or the United States Marshals Service.
If you have any concerns about a communication that purports to be from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York , contact us at 716-551-1721
 
Check this page, or the News and Announcements box on the homepage, for the latest official news and announcements released by the court. You can also access archived news and announcements from this page.

Tue, 12/29/2020

How to Flatten a PDF File or Form for Filing in CM/ECF

Attorneys and other PDF preparers should perform the following steps to flatten a PDF file that can be uploaded into CM/ECF.  This is particularly important when the...

Wed, 12/16/2020

The district court will be closed on December 24th, 25th, 31st and January 1st.  If an emergency filing is needed, please call 716-202-8110.

Mon, 11/30/2020

Please see Fee Schedule for updated rates effective December 1, 2020.

Mon, 11/23/2020

PUBLIC NOTICE OF REAPPOINTMENT OF

FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER MARIANNE MARIANO

     The current term of office of Federal Public Defender Marianne Mariano, Federal...

Mon, 11/16/2020

The United States District Court for the Western District of New York is amending its Local Rules of Criminal and Civil Procedure. The Court invites comments on the proposed amendments, which are available on the Court’s website at www.nywd....

Thu, 11/05/2020

On October 21, 2020, President Trump signed the “Due Process Protections Act,” P.L. No. 116-182, 134 Stat. Ann. 894, which amends Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 5. The judges of this district have adopted a general order to address this...

Tue, 09/15/2020

This court, the VLSP and VLP are hosting an upcoming FREE LIVE CLE WEBINAR providing 3.5 MCLE credits including ethics and diversity credits, and nationally recognized speakers. Please see the full details ...

Tue, 08/25/2020

The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut is appointing a new Magistrate Judge in the Bridgeport office. Interested parties should review the announcement and application materials here:
...

Thu, 06/25/2020

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York is scheduling downtime for upgrade and maintenance to the case management system, CM/ECF. E-filing will be unavailable Saturday, June 27, 2020, from 10:00 am EST until 3:00 pm EST....

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