An Australian woman who was ordered to pay nearly $2 million in damages against two retail giants after her accounts were hacked has won a major lawsuit in the United States.
Byron Bay woman Sarah Luke was among more than 9 million Aussies to have their personal information leaked to the dark web in a major Medibank data breach in 2022
Hackers accessed Ms Luke's PayPal account between December 6 and 8 to trade hundreds of counterfeit items, including Adidas and National Basketball Association (NBA) merchandise.
Adidas and the NBA subsequently filed trademark infringement claims in courts in Florida and Illinois totaling $1.8 million.
Sarah Luke (pictured) has won a legal battle against sportswear giant Adidas after her details were stolen by hackers and used to trade counterfeit goods
Ms. Luke was found liable even though she had no idea of the charges.
Damages amounted to $293,000 ($US200,000) in the NBA case and $1.5 million ($US1 million) in the Adidas case, court documents seen by police. ABC revealed.
A request by Adidas to have the injunction against it dismissed has now been granted by a judge in the US District Court of Florida.
“It cannot be taken back or refiled, it effectively absolves me of any liability,” Ms Luke told the ABC.
“It's pretty amazing.”
Ms Luke received help from a global digital security company to fund a US lawyer to negotiate with the two sportswear giants.
Her U.S. attorney decided to handle the Adidas case in Florida first before tackling the NBA case in Illinois.
Adidas and the NBA have filed trademark infringement claims in courts in Florida and Illinois totaling $1.8 million
Ms Luke was relieved after Adidas filed to have the injunction against her dismissed by a Florida court
“That creates a blueprint that they can take to the NBA and try to achieve the same result,” she said.
“Hopefully we'll have the same outcome, but who knows.”
Ms Luke said the past year had been incredibly stressful for her, but now she started laughing 'because it's so ridiculous'.
“But when I was ordered fired a few days ago, I was in tears.
“It's a whole range of emotions, from overwhelm and frustration to relief mixed with joy.”
Ms. Luke is positive about the case involving the NBA.
“Now that we have this blueprint to work from… maybe there will be a positive outcome and all charges against me will be dropped,” she said.