The Supreme Court of Justice of Santa Fe issued an official alert warning that the provincial judiciary never contacts legal professionals by phone or sends official summons and case details via WhatsApp. The security advisory targets fraudulent messages impersonating court dependencies to target court-appointed experts and lawyers.
Protecting Court Appointed Professionals From Impostor Messaging
For professionals on court appointment lists—including lawyers and forensic experts—managing personal data, registration numbers, and contact details is a daily necessity. Unfortunately, this administrative exposure also makes them prime targets for bad actors. Across Argentina, fraudulent operations frequently rely on variants of social engineering: a supposed court employee contacts a professional to request registry updates, confirm appointments, or advance legal notifications through informal channels.
The Santa Fe Supreme Court’s Government Secretariat explicitly clarified that its offices do not place phone calls or dispatch digital forms to gather information regarding the composition of these official rosters. Jurisdictional units and administrative offices do not route formal notifications or citations through instant messaging applications.
Official Communication Channels and Emergency Reporting Protocols
To combat these fraudulent interactions, the judiciary has reinforced official communication guidelines. Legitimate judicial notifications in Santa Fe follow strict procedural norms and utilize official electronic systems rather than personal chats. Anyone receiving a notification regarding an upcoming hearing, asset attachment, or documentation request via WhatsApp is facing an unauthorized communication.
The organization urges anyone targeted by these suspicious communications to immediately report the incident via designated institutional channels. The court has habilitated the phone line 0342-4572700, utilizing internal extensions 2126, 2127, 2287, and 2288. Users can also interact with the official chatbot Justina, which is accessible directly through the official website of the Poder Judicial de Santa Fe.
Recognizing and Neutralizing Judicial Phishing Attempts
Cybersecurity hygiene in the legal sector requires strict adherence to known protocols. The definitive instruction from the court is absolute: do not respond to data requests, do not click on external links, and do not complete any forms arriving outside verified electronic pathways.
By bypassing unofficial chat applications entirely, legal professionals can protect their credentials against evolving phishing campaigns designed to exploit institutional trust. Verification through official portals remains the only secure method for interacting with judicial dependencies in the province.
