The group faces charges of cybercrimes.
Image: File
Four foreign nationals are expected to appear in the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of cyber fraud.
The suspects, three women and a man, aged between 36 and 48, face charges of the unlawful interception of data, unlawful acts irrespective of software or hardware tools, cyber fraud, and the possession of suspected stolen property.
The group was arrested on Friday, March 20, by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks).
The provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Warrant Officer Zinzi Hani, said the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime investigation team, in conjunction with the City of Cape Town Law Enforcement, acted on information received on an illegal abalone storage facility in Bothasig.
“During the investigation, the team spotted one female suspect entering the premises. Upon entering the premises, the officials found three more foreign nationals in a garage, busy working on their laptops.
“On further inspection, they discovered numerous cellphones, sim cards, various bank cards, POS card reader, a card printer, blank bank cards, as well a black ledger containing information with regards to transactions,” Hani said.
She said the teams established that the suspects were busy cloning various cards and this prompted a call to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team, Hawks’ Cybercrime Investigation, the Local Criminal Record Centre, and the SABRIC to take over the crime scene.
“While processing the scene, the following items were collected: four Laptops, 103 cell phones, 82 Bank cards, 187 sim cards, a POS machine, and three notebooks,” Hani said.
The group was arrested immediately.
“The four will be making their first court appearance on Monday, March 23, 2026, at the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court,” Hani said.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
IOL