Cape Town man robbed of R900,000 after hackers breach estate agent email account

Ah wait, they managed to both spoof email AND answer the call on the agencies phone number?

Sorry, I call bull on this, and shame on the investigators. Another lesson here is don't transfer money to an agent, ever, transfer it to the conveyencing attorneys.
 
Me too POOHB33R, surely these funds had to be transferred first electronically isn't there a trail here?
 
Kosmik said:
Ah wait, they managed to both spoof email AND answer the call on the agencies phone number?

Sorry, I call bull on this, and shame on the investigators. Another lesson here is don't transfer money to an agent, ever, transfer it to the conveyencing attorneys.
Click to expand...

I call BS too. Surely the EFT can be reversed, the scammer traced etc.
 
TJ99 said:
I call BS too. Surely the EFT can be reversed, the scammer traced etc.
Click to expand...

Also it doesn't appear to be an actual "spoof" email but rather someone was negligent and they had direct access to the account or the agency is just covering it's a$$ due to an employee defrauding a client.
 
Strange they say they found no evidence of an inside job yet all the evidence outlined in the article point to an inside job:
1. Email sent from inside email address.
2. Customer called the agent to confirm the account number
 
I'd love to know how much of a cut, the estate agent received?
 
I use a 2 step method for a 1st time beneficiary I set up.
I set up the beneficiary and transfer the small part of the money i.e. of R 8976.23, I will transfer R 76.23 or R 100.00.

Once they confirm they have received it,(if large amount, then verbal and mail), then transfer the balance.
Thus my risk is max R 100.00.
Often a moment of hesitation from the recipient, then once explained complete understanding.
 
Seeff are dodgy. I would follow the estate agents. They have already been involved in a fraud that I know of.
 
BS seef committed fraud, how much is the cut that the agent gets?

R900K Seems like a better cut
 
I feel so bad for this guy. But definitely have a look at Seef they pulled a good one on him
 
not cool, hoping Seeff do the right thing, what's the chance of that?

Back in the day, the victim was a very good runner - ran for Atlantic Athletic Club iirc.
 
Arthur said:
What exactly did Seeff do wrong here?
Click to expand...

They confirmed the bank account number over the phone. Now the agent "can't recall".

The agent involved “could not recall” whether she has confirmed the fraudulent bank account details over the phone, as Williams stated.

The report said Williams is in no position to fight Seeff in court, despite a bank official signing a statement confirming that*Williams read out the bank account details to the estate agent over the phone.
Click to expand...
 
D tj said:
I use a 2 step method for a 1st time beneficiary I set up.
Click to expand...

Great idea, as long as they actually check their bank statement and not just the notification coming from your bank. A good way would be to not send them a notification on the first deposit, and have them confirm what the random amount under R100 was that you sent or put a code in the payment description they have to quote as proof of checking their statement.

Personally I will only go through the hassle with large sums though.
 
biometrics said:
They confirmed the bank account number over the phone. Now the agent "can't recall".
Click to expand...
At this stage it's conjecture that the victim actually spoke to someone at Seeff to confirm the bank details by phone. It is quite possible that the fraudster's email included a telephone number that does not belong to Seeff ... and the report is silent on this obvious point.
 
Arthur said:
At this stage it's conjecture that the victim actually spoke to someone at Seeff to confirm the bank details by phone. It is quite possible that the fraudster's email included a telephone number that does not belong to Seeff ... and the report is silent on this obvious point.
Click to expand...

Of course. Just weird that the agent can't recall.
 
biometrics said:
Of course. Just weird that the agent can't recall.
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Personally, I find it highly unlikely that a false email with the false (fraudulent) bank details would include the correct Seeff telephone number. It's more likely that it gave a false/fraudulent telephone number and asked the recipient to phone that false number to confirm the details, which he did. It'd be interesting to see the actual email and the call records.

It is entirely possible that the agent can't remember being phoned to confirm the (fraudulent) bank details because s/he was in fact never phoned - the fraudster/s had given their number as the confirmation number, and so the victim confirmed the fraudulent bank details with the fraudsters. That's the more likely scenario. And if that's the case, then Seeff are entirely innocent in this.
 
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