Telkom SA SOC Ltd has obtained and executed a court order that allowed a “search and seizure” raid on a third-party company which is alleged to have fraudulently targeted and poached some Telkom customers.

The search and seizure operation – authorised by the Gauteng High Court – was conducted on the premises of a company based in Johannesburg as well as the residence of a Telkom franchisee employee. It resulted in the seizure of data and records required to assist in an urgent forensic investigation aimed at determining the extent of the unlawful activity. Telkom became aware of the fraud after a whistleblower alerted the company to fraudulent targeted customer poaching.

The implicated franchisee employee is alleged to have leaked Telkom customer data, to which he had access in the course of his job, to the third-party company, thereby enabling the unlawful activities.

The investigation identified that the third-party company unlawfully accessed the confidential Telkom information enabling the third party to solicit customers away from Telkom. There is no indication, at this stage, that the targeted Telkom customers have suffered financial losses.

Telkom regards its customers interests and their data of paramount importance, and on being alerted of the breach of customer information during September 2024, immediately launched an inquiry, which has now resulted in a search and seizure.

Telkom alerted the impacted customers in terms of the applicable data protection regulations as soon as the investigation process allowed. The Information Regulator was notified on October 30, 2024, as required in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013.

The investigation into the scale of the criminality is ongoing. A criminal case has been reported to the Hawks and legal action is also being taken against the wrongdoers.

Telkom has implemented various mitigation strategies and has strengthened its current data access protocols to reduce the risk of this breach being repeated.