Unknown third parties may hack an unsuspecting person’s email account and dupe them into paying into the wrong bank account.
In 2019, Hawarden was purchasing a property, and ENS acted as the appointed conveyancer for the seller.Nevertheless, the plaintiff’s email account was hacked by an unknown third party who altered the banking details received from ENS and released them to Hawarden as if they were from ENS.By the time the theft was discovered, the funds had been withdrawn and could not be recovered.
“Despite ENS being aware of the risks, it failed to safely communicate its bank details, using technical safety measures or multichannel verifications,” said Campos and Pather. “Notwithstanding that there is no contractual relationship between ENS and Hawarden, ENS owed a general duty of care to Hawarden.”
Hawarden was not ENS’s client, and there was no contractual relationship between them or attorney-client relationship.