Fraudsters targeting unsuspecting victims by way of cybercrime, internet fraud or a phishing scheme is becoming a common occurrence. Scams within the banking industry have notably become more prevalent on a global scale as ecommerce transactions increase. In a rather unusual case where fraudsters who received the details of an FNB client’s dormant account with a daily limit of R5000.00 and monthly limit of R999 999.00, the High Court was tasked with considering the banking relationship between a bank and its client.
On 31 August 2021, a judgment in the Northwest High Court (Mahikeng) was handed down by Judge Andre Petersen where FNB (the applicant) lost its bid to hold its client, Godfrey Kgethile (the respondent), responsible for its losses plus interest amounting to R2.9m. This amount was lost to a scammer after the respondent was a victim of a phishing scheme where he had been persuaded to reveal his bank details and personal information after being told that he had won a certain sum of money in foreign currency.
Background
On 30 August 2010, the applicant represented by a duly authorised employee and the respondent in his personal capacity, entered into a written agreement in terms of which the applicant opened a banking account termed a Smart Account for the respondent. The bank facility was a debit card account and was not to be used for credit transactions, as only funds belonging to the respondent could be used in the account due to no…
