The case of Deligiannidou v Sundarjee [2020] NSW SC 437 related to the following circumstances:

1. On 1 February 2020 the purchasers exchanged contracts with the defendants to purchase a property at San Souci for $560,000.
2. The purchasers paid an initial deposit of $1,400 to the agent and they were to pay the balance of the deposit of $54,600 by 12 February 2020.
3. The contract required that the deposit be paid by either cash or by cheque. The contract did not permit the payment of the deposit by electronic funds transfer (EFT).
4. The vendor’s agent sent the purchasers an email directing them to pay the balance of the deposit by EFT into their trust account.
5. A couple of days later the purchasers received what appeared to be a further email from the agent confirming the requirement for the payment of the balance deposit by EFT into the agent’s trust account. The email set out what purported to be the BSB and account number of the agent’s trust account.  However, these were the BSB and account number for the cyber-criminal.
6. The purchasers paid the balance deposit of $54,600 into the cyber criminal’s account as directed.
7. When the balance deposit was not received by the vendor in accordance with the terms of the contract, the vendor terminated the contract and initiated proceedings against the purchasers for the full amount of the deposit.
8. The purchasers application for interim relief was refused, primarily on the basis that the balance of the deposit was not paid in accordance with the written terms of the contract and as the vendors or their authorised stakeholder had not received the balance deposit as required by the terms of the contract, the vendors were entitled to terminate the contract. It is another question, to be determined on another day, as to whether or not the purchasers would have an action against the agent for directing them, apparently as agents for the vendors, to pay the deposit in a way which was not provided for in the contract.
9. There are a number of key lessons here, namely

• Don’t always accept what an agent says as being correct;
• If you ever receive an email directing you to pay money into an account, always telephone the recipient to confirm that the details which have been given to you are correct; and
• When buying and selling property, please validate every step of the way with a trusted conveyancer or lawyer.

Nadine Betts and Leanne Dobeson of Sutherland Shire Conveyancing are very experienced and competent and can be relied upon to give the very best of advice!

Please call them on 9543 1818 if you are buying or selling property.