Cyber hackers had hacked the communication between the victim, Tanya Koegelenberg, and the company she wanted to purchase equipment from for her and her husband’s business
On the 20th of May 2020 Maroela Media reported that a businesswoman, Tanya Koegelenberg, had paid R147 500,00 into a fraudulent account, after cyber hackers intercepted their e-mail communication. Anelisa Ngcakani, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa said, Koegelenberg only realized her mistake after she had already paid the money into the wrong account and the company that was supposed to deliver the goods asked her for the payment.
Ngcakani said that on the 26th of November 2019, the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) had applied for a conservation order from the East London’s Circuit High Court, that effectively froze the remaining funds in the account. This was done on grounds that the funds that was kept in the account was retrieved illegally.
The AFU did an application to declare the remaining R100 056,80 as forfeit. It was placed on hold due to the lock-down period and reopened again on the 12th of May 2020 where the AFU had succeeded in having the funds declared as forfeit and had the funds paid to Koegelenberg’s account.
To date no one has been arrested for this cybercrime and although Koegelenberg had retrieved most of the funds, her and her husband’s business still lost more than R47 500,00 and the time lost to appeal the case.
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