More scam email directed to lawyers

The most recent spam to hit my mailbox:

Notice to Appear,

You have to appear in the Court on the August 28.

You are kindly asked to prepare and bring the documents relating to the case to Court on the specified date.

Note: The case will be heard by the judge in your absence if you do not come.

You can review complete details of the Court Notice in the attachment.

Yours faithfully,

Seth Moon,

Clerk of Court.

There are several problems here

1. I don’t know of any clerk named Seth Moon in Mississippi
2. The email didn’t originate from anyone in Mississippi
3. The email doesn’t contain any court specific information
4. The email doesn’t contain any case specific information
5. Clerks in Mississippi do not use the scammer’s preferred closing of “Yours faithfully”
6. Hearings don’t just pop out of thin air
7. The email contains an attachment in zip file

Why is the .zip file of any significance?  Files that use the .zip extension are favored by hackers for a number of reasons according to computer technology expert Leo Notenboom in his blog entry “Why Spammers Love ZIP Files and How You Need to Stay Safe”.

Never open an attachment from anyone unless you are expecting the email and if you see a .zip file, double check with the sender to make sure they actually sent the file.