Experian fraudster Karabo Phungula sentenced to 15 years in prison

Data fraudster Karabo Phungula was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Palm Ridge on Wednesday.

The court held that Phungula's conduct had far-reaching consequences for the data services company, Experian, which incurred financial loss and suffered reputational damage.

During sentencing, it was heard that Phungula, 37, was a first-time offender and had pleaded guilty to the charges. However, there were aggravating factors.

Phungula stole the identity document of the businessman who was authorised to have the information. “Your stealing the personal information of their very best client has actually led them to suffer reputational loss with the client in question,” said the magistrate.

The company also sustained financial losses.

Phungula was arrested in September 2021 on charges of fraud and contravention of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.

In May 2020, he conned Experian into handing over the data of more than 23-million people and nearly 800,000 businesses. Experian detected the breach on July 22 2020.

This is a developing story.

TimesLIVE