Cybercrime Judgments and Cases

You need to know about and possibly take action when the courts hand down Cybercrime judgments or Cybercrime cases. It is a critical part of ensuring that your organisation complies with the Cybercrime Act. The Cybercrime Act is a criminal law and our courts have started to hand down judgments about certain Cybercrimes like business email compromise. The Michalsons team monitors all Cybercrime Judgments and Cases from around the world. We select ones that are relevant to members of our Programmes.

We continually monitor and provide plain-language summaries of all Cybercrime Judgments or Cybercrime cases. Our summaries highlight what action you might need to take in response to a judgment. We summarise any judgment that deals with Cybercrime or Cybersecurity. We do all the hard work for you to save you time.

Intengo Imoto v Zoutpansberg Motor Wholesalers | EFT fraud and BECs

In Intengo Imoto v Zoutpansberg Motor Wholesalers, the Supreme Court of Appeal held that a purchaser (debtor) who falls victim to EFT fraud through email interception, paying into a fraudulent bank account, has not discharged its payment obligation to the […]

Digital Law Company v Meta | Extraterritorial application of South African law

In Digital Law Company v Meta, the High Court in South Africa (Gauteng Local Division Johannesburg) sanctioned a joint consent order in which Meta agreed to take a number of steps, including removing accounts, disclosing the subscriber information behind [...]

Pinnacle Micro v Govender | BEC

This case highlights the importance of verifying banking details before making electronic payments, especially when receiving a change of instructions. Who should care about this judgment and why? Essentially all businesses face the threat of business email compromise. This judgment provides [...]

State v Ndiki and others | Electronic evidence

In this case, State v Ndiki and others, the court ruled that computer-generated evidence labelled as hearsay under the Law of Evidence Amendment Act 45 of 1988 (LEAA) could be admitted under specific provisions of the Act. Evidence based solely […]

Lester Connock Commemoration Fund v Brough Capital | BEC

In Lester Connock Commemoration Fund v Brough Capital, the high court held Brough Capital liable for a breach of agreement in administering funds for the Rotary Club of Rosebank. The court found that fraudulent email transactions totalling R3.1 million occurred [...]

By |2024-02-20T07:53:19+02:00November 29th, 2023|Categories: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity Law|Tags: , , |

S v Phungula | Theft of personal data

In S v Phungula, the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court convicted Phungula of theft of personal data. The court found Phungula guilty of fraudulently obtaining the personal data of more than 23 million people and business-related data of almost 800 000 [...]

By |2023-03-30T15:36:59+02:00March 28th, 2023|Categories: Cybercrime|Tags: , |

Gerber v PSG Wealth Financial Planning | BEC

The main legal issue involved the court determining whether the investment company (PSG Wealth Financial Planning) had a contractual obligation to protect their client (Gerber) against financial losses caused by cybercrime, specifically when a fraudster hacked the client's email and [...]

Safi v Gascoigne | BEC

In Safi v Gascoigne, Safi sued Gascoigne Randon and Associates, a conveyancing firm, for a loss of R889,308.50 from a business email compromise (BEC).  Who should care about this judgment and why? The public because they need to be aware [...]

Hartog v Daly | Opening a bank account

In Hartog v Daly, the court held Hartog liable for monies that he paid into a fraudster's bank account. The fraudster unlawfully intercepted an email communication between Hartog and his client by sending Hartog an email with instructions to [...]

Hawarden v Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS) | BEC

In Hawarden v Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS), Hawarden succeeded in suing ENS for the loss of R5.5 million because of a Business Email Compromise (BEC). Hawarden was ENS' client.  The court said that ENS owed a general duty of care [...]

Buchler v Minister of SAPS | Search and seizure warrants

In Buchler v Minister of SAPS, Buchler succeeded in having two search and seizure warrants set aside. SAPS and the Hawks seized materials from Buchler's place of business, an internet café. The police believed that Buchler was using the materials [...]

By |2023-04-03T15:19:39+02:00January 5th, 2023|Categories: Cybercrime|Tags: , , , |

“Fraudulent” access to an IT system containing unprotected public data

Is it an offence to access data that is freely available on the Internet? Many of us would think that it isn’t if the data is accessible to the public. Can a person use public data (that may include public [...]