What to do if you’re a victim of e-transfer fraud
Interac e-transfers are one of the most popular ways to send money. Although it’s often referred to as a safe way to transfer funds, it’s not exactly foolproof. There is more than one way to make e-transfers fraudulently, which is why you need to be careful about how you use your accounts.
Ideally, you want to know the common scams to protect yourself, but even the most diligent people can still become compromised. Here’s what to do if you’re a victim of e-transfer fraud.
What is e-transfer fraud?
Generally speaking, there are two types of e-transfer fraud. It can happen when the money deposited into your account is returned to the sender or when your information has been compromised, and money is sent out of your account.
That’s right, money sent to you via e-transfer can be returned to the sender. This often happens when money was sent to the wrong account by accident or due to fraud. Now you’re probably wondering how that benefits the sender since there would be a paper trail. Well, the scammer is likely sending funds from an account that they have access to but don’t own. Basically, there are two victims here. You and the account owner that the fraudster is sending money from
The key to this scam is automatic deposits. When you have them turned on, the bank could say you were never entitled to that money. However, if you answer the security question correctly, you can say that the money was sent to you intentionally. If the money came from a compromised account, it would be returned to the rightful owner.
Now, if someone stole your banking details and sends an e-transfer from your account without you knowing, you do have some recourse. You just need to act on things right away.
What to do when you’re a victim of e-transfer fraud
Being a victim of e-transfer fraud sucks. Many people will feel ashamed because they would have been scammed out of money or products. While that sinking feeling won’t go away anytime soon, there’s no point in sulking. The best thing you can do is take the following steps to see if some of your funds can be recovered and protect yourself from future fraud attacks.
Contact your financial institution
The first thing to do if you’re a victim of e-transfer fraud is to contact your financial institution. You’ll want to tell them exactly what happened and why you believe that you’re a victim. There’s not much to say beyond the fact that the e-transfer made was not done by you. Your bank will immediately open up an investigation and look into your bank accounts.
If you don’t contact your bank immediately, you could become a victim again the following day. E-transfers have a daily limit of $3,000 (this can vary depending on the bank). If thieves could get that money once, they’ll try again the next day. If you haven’t taken any additional steps to protect yourself, you could find yourself out of even more money.
Change your passwords
Changing your passwords should be done immediately, but it’s not that simple. For all you know, your computer has been compromised with malware. If you change your passwords on an infected system, you could just be giving your new information to the same thieves.
Switch to a different system and change all of your passwords. You’ll also want to change the answers to any personal questions. Even though it may have just been your banking information that’s been compromised, you’ll want to update any vital passwords, including your email and wireless services provider.
If you suspect your computer has malware installed, you’ll need to install anti-malware software. Alternatively, you could do a factory restore on the computer, so everything is wiped clean.
In general, you’ll want to come up with new strong passwords for your online banking and email account.
Set up fraud alerts with Equifax and Transunion
Let’s assume that your account was hacked. After you’ve put in a fraud claim and you’ve changed all your passwords, you need to set up fraud alerts for Equifax and Transunion. This is important since you have no idea what other information the thieves have. With the right information, they could open up credit cards in your name without you knowing. This is known as identity theft.
Since a credit check is performed with either Equifax and Transunion whenever someone applies for new credit, a fraud alert is a good way of telling if something is happening with your credit score. If there’s a new credit check, Equifax and Transunion will alert you so you can investigate immediately. These fraud alerts come with an annual fee, but it’s worth it since you’re already a victim of fraud.
You need to set up fraud alerts with Equifax and Transunion because not every lender reports to both bureaus. For example, Capital One uses Transunion. If you’re subscribed to Equifax and the thieves open up an account under your name with Capital One, you may never know. Paying twice is annoying, but it’s necessary.
Be aware of common e-transfers scams
When sending online money transfers between friends or people you know, it’s perfectly safe. However, since an e-transfer can be reversed, you should never use it to send or receive funds with strangers. In addition, thieves have become quite creative when it comes to e
Online e-transfer scams
The most common e-transfer scam is when people are selling things online. E.g. a laptop or cellphone. The seller is asking $1,000, and a buyer is willing to pay right away. Even if the person is willing to meet in person, you should demand cash. Remember, accounts can be hacked, so the buyer could be sending the recipient money from someone’s account that has been compromised. Once that person realizes it, they’ll tell their bank that they’re a victim of fraud, and the transaction will eventually be reversed. In the end, you’re left with nothing.
Another obvious e-transfer scam is when the buyer is willing to pay you extra if you ship it. Instead of the asking price of $1,000, they’ll offer you $1,200 if you ship it immediately. If you demand an in-person meetup, they’ll make up any excuse possible to avoid it. Generally speaking, if someone is offering you more money than what you’re asking for, it’s likely a scam.
Text message scams
Every so often you may get a text message notification saying you’re owed a refund, you’ve won the lottery, won a prize, or you need to update your account passwords. These are all scams. Identity thieves are trying to get you to give up your financial information, social insurance number, and account numbers. This type of fraud is called phishing and they’re looking
Fake apartment listings
With a hot rental market across Canada, thieves are now pretending to be landlords. The scam goes like this. You find an apartment listing on the internet that you’re interested in. When you contact the owner, they say that you need to e-transfer them last month’s rent in advance as a security deposit. They’ll say that you only need to give them the security answer if you want the unit to make you feel better.
There are two problems with this. They could still potentially access the money even without a password. It’s also possible that they’re not the owner of the unit and have simply shown you (and many others) an Airbnb apartment they’ve rented.
Social media accounts
Another interesting scam thieves have adopted is cloning influencers’ social media accounts. The accounts will look almost identical to the real people you follow. The only difference is a minor change to the account name. Eventually, the scammers will reach out to you directly and try to get you to buy or invest in a product. Of course, this is fraudulent activity, so these accounts should be reported.
Will I get my e-transfer fraud money back?
If your account was compromised, then there’s a good chance you’ll get your money back. The bank will need to do an investigation, and your account may be frozen for a little while, but you’ll probably get your money back eventually.
Now, if you were the person who accepted the transfer and it gets returned to the sender due to fraud, it’s unlikely you have any recourse. You could file a police report since it’s still technically fraud, but I wouldn’t bet on them doing anything about it. Unfortunately, you’ll probably have to consider it an expensive lesson learned.
How to prevent e-transfer fraud
If you’re reading this article, you’re likely already a victim of e-transfer fraud. While that may be frustrating, there’s not much you can do about it now. All you can do is prepare yourself for the future and look for suspicious activity.
Accept cash only
If you’re ever selling anything online, you should only do deals in person. By doing this, you can request cash only. Some people may offer bank drafts instead of an e-transfer. While this is acceptable, make sure you go with the buyer to the bank so you can see the draft being made. There’s always a chance that the bank draft that they’ve brought with them is fradulent.
Contact the credit bureaus
If you’re an identity theft victim and have seen fraudulent accounts appear on your credit reports, you’ll need to address it immediately. Contact Equifax and Transunion to report any accounts that aren’t yours. It’s a long process, but cleaning things up will help your credit score.
Use different security answers
If you’re sending an e-transfer, ensure you never put the security answer in the message. In addition, don’t use the same security answer for different recipients. For the password, contact the recipient offline via text message or a call, just in case their email has been compromised.
Good advice. I also always ask for cash with doing sales on Kijiji and such
I sent $ 400.00 to someone via e transfer and have not received the goods. What are my options, if any.
Siegfried,
Since you sent the funds via etransfer, you don’t really have any recourse.
Barry – WHY is this so? This is absurd – a person who is being scammed is STILL a victim even if they have sent the funds!
Angie,
I don’t disagree with you. It’s just the way banks see things.
I was scammed for 300$ 2 years ago…I went to the police station…gave them a guy on a silver platter and did nothing….they(police) need to wake up…I tore into them and said get with the program…like anything else now.. cybercrime is real if not bigger and less of a hassle to thieves…open a division and do something…they told me I lost my money…made me!!! Feel like I was the idiot… won’t fit a finger for a one time(or so they think) occurrence.these people keep doing this…and cops don’t do nothing like it’s no big deal.. pathetic…use those fancy computers and nerds to trace.. transactions..oh wait..cost of retrieving 300$ might be too much…let the thieves thrive!!!
Not sure if I gave you the update on this situation – but for me, it actually worked out. I first had to file with the local police, and then I filed with the feds. The detective I had was amazing – they located the “scammers” in another province, and sent a constable to go speak with them – telling them that they had until such and such date to return my funds. Well, they did. I was lucky. Often times the person scamming you is also a victim of sorts, to the ACTUAL scammers, who are using them to do the “dirty work” persay… I got really lukcy and the person DID show up at the the police station as they were told, and etransfered me my money back. This is a 1 in a million occurance anAd I am soo grateful that it worked out – it took them 3 months but it did work out.
Hi Mr. Choi,
Somebody hacked into my bank account and sent an e-transfer via email and it was auto-deposited. I’ve already submitted a claim with my bank and they said they will do an investigation which can take up to 10 business days. They said that if they detect that fraud did occur, I will be compensated. This transaction was not made by me whatsoever so what do you think the chances of me getting my money back are? Thank you so much for your time and effort.
Best,
Edison.
Edison,
It really comes down to what your bank decides. You need to provide as much evidence as possible that it wasn’t you who made the transfer.
Any update to this?
I sent $500 to the wrong school by e-transfer and they refuse to give back the money.
What should I do.
Hi Yvette,
Unfortunately, if the funds have been deposited, the transaction can not be reversed.
How come in this case the transaction can’t be reversed, but in the article says that a thief can reverse an etransfer payment they sent?
sent 210 to a website via etransfer for cbd dog medication. cbd canada. never got the goods and no reply. how do i report it to get site shut down ?
Hi Steve.Ive got a real dilemma.I had 70 etransfers done from my account to another persons account without my knowledge.I happened to stumble onto it through my laptop.There was over $10,000.taken out.Can I take them to court?&retrieve my money&press charges?
Hello.
If I was deposited $1000 from the email contact I know but the text after that requested money back looks suspicious. It has been 3 days since that money was deposited into my account. Is that a kind of scam?
It’s possible that your contact’s account was hacked.
Have you tried messaging them directly (not via email) to see if it was actually them?
How long does it take to report a e transfer fraud if someone went in my account and took my cash? How long do I have to report this in order to get back my cash?
You’d have to report it right away and see what your bank’s investigation finds.
I sold something online last week via etransfer. The transaction was complete a week ago (she received the item and I received the funds). Then this morning I notice the amount deposited into my account again. I have automatic deposit set up. The buyer messaged me that she accidentally sent another etransfer and now wants me to return the amount ($60) via etransfer. Is it safe to return the money to her via etransfer?
D M,
I’d wait another week to ensure the first e-transfer doesn’t get clawed back before sending the second deposit back. It could be a scam, but it could also be an honest mistake. I assume most scammers aren’t trying to get $60 out of people.
My brother sold his bitcoin and got his money in CAD in my account. But after some days the bank notified me that the e-transfer was tagged fraud. What do I do.?
My account has been frozen and they are carrying investigation.
The transaction happened in Africa. And the money was sent to my account in Canada.
The transaction was completed because he sent his own BITCOIN. But unfortunately the money the buyer sent was a scammed money.
They want me to go to the bank and explain. What would likely happen there? I’m so scared.
We don’t know anything about this and it’s about 2 people that reported. Though one money is still pending.
YOu just need to explain to the bank what happened. They want to make sure you’re not part of the fraud. Unfortuantely, you likely won’t get your money back since the original account with the funds sent to you was compromised.
So do you go to jail
Please what can I do about this? My company sent my pay check money into my account , without knowing my account had already been frozen bcos they needed an ID Verification. Then the verification was done and the ACC was unfrozen but my paycheck isn’t in my account.
I called my company they said they sent the money and it went through and they didn’t get any notification saying that it didn’t go through. I contacted my bank on the other hand they said they didn’t receive any money and it is not pending.
How do you think I can go out of this and get my money?
Ken,
if your company is claiming the pay went through, then ask for the payment verification details and numbers so you can take it to your bank and find out what happened.
I etransfered 20 .00 over five times to a gambling site and than i won 200 and withdrew it .but all i got was 100 i asked why they said my bank rook it back as they dont know for up to three weeks ive lost plenty over the years and won some never had this occur i was sent the paper on the withdrawl and it has (citygate daily transactions v2) as the takers of my deposits i looked it up and all i get is a natuural gas sites nothing alse maybe putin is paying for the war a little from everone im going to my bank and see what they can do .
My brother(19) recently said he had his account hacked and he’s worried no one will do anything. He let me take a look last night and it’s all E-Transfers out. Just under $9000 has been sent out.
He’s opened an investigation with the bank.
Because he didn’t know, when I looked I found all the transaction IDs and emails they were sent to. What are his next steps?
Jack,
All you can do is contact your bank to open an investigation.
There you go! And you will all live happily afterwards.
What would you do if the bank was a willing accomplice?
I paid $800 deposit for air-conditioner and a second $500 which was tagged as potential fraud which didn’t go through. Why can’t the bank just return the money? They know where it went. I also filed a police report and haven’t heard back. What are my options?
Same here. I e-transfered $400 to buy a snowblower on Marketplace and it was all fake.
I heard the bank will not help me get my money back.
What recourse do I have and how do we stop these thieves?
Hey, sent 3 months rent that show it was deposited but my landlord is claiming they didn’t receive it, my bank account is frozen due to suspected fraud, I’m also missing an accumulation of 600$ over the last 5 months.
3 months rent is around 4,000$…… will I ever get the money back if it’s been deposited into a scammers account? Can etransfer be intercepted? Would they need a password?
Ahhhh so frustrated just need some answers my bank can’t give me lol
eTransfers can be intercepted.
All you can do right now is wait for your bank’s investigation to complete.
Thank you so much, Is there usually an estimated timeframe or does it depend on the situation and there a good chance I won’t get my money back?
McKenzie,
It’s hard to say as every case is different. If the bank funds you weren’t at fault, then you’d get your money back. The tricky part is if they say you’re to blame, then you need to make a dispute trying to claim you didn’t make those transfers.
Hi Steve.Ive got a real dilemma.I had 70 etransfers done from my account to another persons account without my knowledge.I happened to stumble onto it through my laptop.There was over $10,000.taken out.Can I take them to court?&retrieve my money&press charges?
Our customer etransfered us for 2 invoices equal to $40,000. Our email was hacked and they stole the etransfers because they were able to guess the security answer by looking at past emails. We have confirmed the etransfers were sent by our customer and then deposited by thief to a different account
Bank is refusing to even talk with us about it. Do we have any options? Who knew you could send so much money via email!!
Carey,
All you can do is talk to your bank and see if they can do anything. It’s unusual to send such a huge amount via etransfer.
Hey there, it’s been about 6 months, I’ve been deemed at fault for the last issues I was having regarding etransfer fraud, it was deposited into said person account and was never able to be recovered, I’ve appealed their judgement 3 times and each time it hasn’t changed, is there anything else I can do? Does it make sense to keep appealing to see if anything changed, we are out a little over 4K so it’s not a small amount either, hopefully that makes sense but is 6 months too long to wait? Thank you!
McKenzie,
The only thing you could really try to do is run it up the chain to the ombudsman at the bank.
I write this with great disappointment. I finished my degree on Monday and prior to that I was mass applying for a load of jobs on indeed as I have 2 months left on my university residence lease and want to work during the idle time I have here. A company called “COOKE INC” emailed me with a letter to offer me remote data entry employment, I did not remember applying to this company but I read the agreement, searched the company up (is a legitimate company) and decided to accept the offer. They asked for ID, direct deposit details and information a regular job would ask for, they had a number on the email address and I decided to ring them after my final exam on Monday to let them know how pleased I was to start training and what not, a guy answered (goes by the name “Jason Hammond” he was emailing me too). The number was linked to Ottawa and he said I can start training on Tuesday, it seemed like a regular job at this point. I was given a work email and directed to a server where I would meet IT specialist “Adam Todd” I was curious about Adam as he was helping me set up my account and home office (which was what I was told that would happen in the first 10 days of training). I searched Adam up on linked and his page came up he was a real employee for COOKE INC so everything seemed to make sense. I was told by Adam that COOKE INC have a partnership with “Tech-Insights” and they can provide 20% off on home office supplies so what is going to happen is I’ll submit a request to Tech Insight for a bunch of items listed such as headphones, laptop, telephone, intranet server etc and they’ll provide me the invoice. Once I receive this I will send it to Adam Todd and he will send me a cheque which I will send the money of it to tech insights via e transfer. At this point I should’ve clocked onto a major red flag but my desperation to work and greed for money took over and I was blinded by the opportunity I had working remotely earning 25 an hour, I sent Adam the invoice and he sent me a 3904 cheque to send. I sent this money over 2 days to two separate emails, I woke up today and my bank account was in -, the check had been bounced back and the money that was sent came out of what I had in my account and the overdraft. I told my bank and they said 12-15 days to investigate and I also filed a police report, I also reached out to the emails that I transferred the money too and it turns out they were also scam victims of the same company, luckily one of them was able to cancel a transfer but at this point all of our banks have been blocked and we have to go into an rbc branch to talk an agent tomorrow explaining the situation. I feel super low as my uncle who I was really close with passed away yesterday and I have not even had a moment to grieve about it since I’ve been caught up in this mess. Has anyone else dealt with something as such, if so we’re you able to retrieve your money?
Hi! I got into a job scam, someone contacted me on WhatsApp for freelance job, they told me that you have to do some tasks by optimizing apps and you will earn commission out of it and will be deposited into your workbench the account they created for me and from there you can withdraw it into your bank account. I clicked on some links and I don’t know if my phone was hacked or something but my I had 5 transactions from bank account via e transfer to someone that has been deposited already. I contact my bank and they filed a claim and gave me 10 business days to investigate. what do you guys think, will i get my money back in this case and what evidence I need to show to bank if they ask, as I don’t know how can I show them that it was not me and my phone got hacked maybe, because they told it was done by me from my bank app and I accessed it. I don’t know what to do .
Do you have an update?
Hi,
I got scammed job offer and I e transfer money for training which they send me a check and check returned and my money is gone and I called bank, I asked my money back, They refused I have all the proof emails, job offer…..
I want to get my money back, i quit my job now all saving gone my job is gone.
What can i do ?
Sam,
Unfortunately, the bank won’t see things your way. As far they’re concerned, you willingly deposited the cheque and willingly sent the transfer. It’s unlikely you’ll get anything back.
Our client sent us to etransfer and we called him to let him know that we haven’t received them we did some investigation and turns out that our email account was hacked. The hacker had the transfer sent to the conversation folder and that is why we never received a notification of the email. We have called the Police and they will be investigating with his bank. The amount is over $5,000.00 who is responsible for that money when I never received it, it’s not in my bank account. I cannot provide him a receipt for money I did not receive what are your thoughts?
Hi Sylvie,
You should likely consult a lawyer and the police for this one. But since it was your account that was hacked and your client send the funds in good faith, the responsibility would likely fall onto you.
He also sent us an email letting us know that he was sending an etransfer and the password. I strongly believe that if he would of not sent us the password via email we would of been able to transfer that money in our account.
Sylvie,
Again, I’m not a lawyer and you should seek legal advice. The client providing the password via email may have not be the best for security reasons, but it’s your account that was hacked. There’s some responsibility on both sides here.
I sent rent by e-transfers (2 seperate ones), to the same email I’ve used for over two years. They both were deposited, yet my landlord says he didn’t deposit the first one. I looked on bank statement and it shows they both had been accepted. His son called us and said his dad’s email had been hacked. Now he’s saying he might evict us. Does he have the right to evict or make us pay again? He said that he would let us pay half and he’d pay other half.
Hi Barb,
If it was his email that was hacked, then that’s on him. To protect yourself, you should get written documentation that you sent the e-transfer and to which email. Your landlord likely won’t accept that as an answer, but it shows proof that you paid to the right email.
This reddit thread explains a similar situation – https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvicecanada/comments/n8thum/landlords_email_hacked_and_my_rent_etransfer/
I have a transfer amount of 100 dollars via etransfer and got mail that I could not transfer the funds due to the wrong email ID. The same has been deducted from my account. How can I get my amount in my account? Thank you
I was recently selling some toys on Facebook Marketplace for $25. A buyer claimed he was out of town and requested to hold the item, promising to pay in full. I provided my details for an e-transfer and received an email that appeared to be from Interac. When I clicked on the link, it took me to a webpage to log into my online banking account, which I did. After a few minutes, I was informed that the money would be deposited within 24 hours.
However, when I checked my banking account, I found that $1,500 was withdrawn from my savings account without my consent, and the money was transferred to an unknown recipient (Gigadat Inc, gigadat1@orderdeposit.com). A few minutes later, another $500 was also withdrawn from my account. I immediately locked my account and went to my nearest bank. Is possible to get the money back in this case.
Wade,
While you can make a case to your bank’s fraud department, you’ll likely be denied since you willingly gave up your banking information.
Just curious but what can I do if I had sent an etransfer to myself from my own account, but the money in it, was from an etransfer that was sent to me, then later was reported as a scam. They froze the account that I sent the money to from myself. It is my main account. I use it for everything. What are my options?….
wrong. my bank did not investigate nothing. they told me to go to the police. all the bank did was close the bank account down and open a new one for me. they were useless.