Retired schoolteacher and resident of Dowerglen, Edenvale, Luisa Westphal (63) was left at her wits’ end after fraudsters drained more than R1m from her bank accounts in a matter of minutes.

Bedfordview Edenvale News reports that in September 2025, Westphal’s life was turned upside down after receiving a seemingly innocent phone call from a woman claiming to be a representative from South African Airways.

Westphal explained that, while she was driving home, she received a phone call late in the afternoon of September 30, 2025, from a woman who identified herself as Rose.

“I received a WhatsApp phone call, and the SAA logo popped up on my screen. I answered the call and the woman was very polite, very professional.”

Westphal said Rose knew her name and surname, her ID number and when she had last flown on an SAA flight.

Westphal told The News that when Rose provided her personal details, it raised alarm bells.

“However, she lulled me into a sense of ease by stating that she had found me on the system and could corroborate when and where last I flew on SAA.”

Rose explained to Westphal that the reason for the phone call was to attract SAA clients back.

“She said SAA had launched a promotion and they were trying to attract their previous clients. If you were 40 years old, you would get a 40% discount, and if you were 60 years old, you would get a 60% discount on domestic and international flights for a year from when you received the promotional call.”

The promotion would have been valid until September 30.

Westphal explained that she was not interested in taking a flight anytime soon and would not be spending any money.

Soon after explaining this, Rose asked Westphal whether she had a Voyager card.

“I explained to her that, as a teacher, I didn’t really travel much. But I thought to myself that maybe it was time to get one now that I wasn’t working anymore.”

To access the alleged special SAA pricing, Rose sent Westphal a link to what appeared to be the official SAA app.

She told Westphal that, for the promotions to work, she would need to download the SAA app via the link sent to her, not the app store, because the app store would not have the updated prices.

“It looked exactly like an SAA app with dates and prices for flights to Durban, which Rose asked me to check.”

Westphal said she put in a potential date to look at some of the prices, and the prices on the app were phenomenal.

Accounts drained

Then panic struck the Westphal household.

Once Westphal had finished her phone call with Rose and was busy in the kitchen, her husband walked in.

“He was in a complete state. I hadn’t even had a chance to tell him, but he was on the phone with his private banker.”

The realisation soon came that both Westphal’s Nedbank accounts and her husband’s Standard Bank account had been hacked.

In a matter of minutes, the following happened:

• R994 300 was transferred out of Westphal’s Nedbank Home Loan (access bond) account.
• R82 800 was removed from Westphal’s Nedbank credit card account.
• R199 000 was also removed from Westphal’s husband’s Standard Bank current account.

In total, R1 276 100 was taken.

Westphal stated that she did not authorise any of the transactions or payments.

She said she did not provide an OTP, a Pin, nor provide any biometric verification.

“I was only informed after the money had already left my account. There were no calls or emails to say that my account had been compromised.”

Westphal said that after she realised what had happened, she was in complete shock.

“I didn’t know whether to vomit or faint. That night, I couldn’t sleep. I was just trying to figure out what had happened.”

On October 1, 2025, Westphal and her husband went to the respective banks to obtain the necessary statements before going to Edenvale SAPS.

She was told that Nedbank’s investigation would take between three and nine weeks.

By Westphal’s estimate, the investigation would conclude by the end of November 2025. To date, she had not heard anything back from the bank.

Legal battle begins

After returning from a brief vacation, Westphal started seeking assistance from cybercrime attorneys in 2026 and soon started working with Primerio.

Westphal said in February, approximately 21 weeks after the fraud investigation began, she received a letter from Nedbank offering her R20 000 as a gesture of goodwill, noting that she had been a client for many years.

“When I received the letter, I felt angry and insulted. If we accepted the funds, I wouldn’t have been able to discuss any of the details of the matter with anyone, so we didn’t accept it and decided to fight the matter legally with the assistance of Primerio.”

Following her ordeal, Westphal said she has been left in a constant state of worry and mistrust, doubting any links or SMSs she receives.

“I am not a dithering old lady. My husband and I have always kept up to date with technology and stayed informed, not only for our own sake but also for the sake of our children.

“After everything that has happened, I really don’t trust anybody. I don’t know how, but the banks have got to step up their security.”

Standard Bank spokesperson Ross Linstrom previously said an investigation revealed that fraudsters used a social engineering scam to persuade the client to download an application from an unauthorised source.

This installed malware on the device, enabling fraudsters to perform transactions that appeared to originate from a trusted source.

Linstrom confirmed that R199 999 was transferred from the account, noting that the circumstances are consistent with a known form of cyber fraud rather than a compromise of bank systems.

Standard Bank immediately initiated fraud response protocols, but the funds had already been withdrawn and could not be recovered.

Nedbank confirmed that its investigation into the matter is ongoing.

A request for comment was sent to South African Airways. Comment was requested by July 6 at 09:30.

At the time of publishing, no comment had been received.

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