What to do if you are on a receiving end of Interac transfer sent to the wrong email address? | General financial discussion | Discussion forum

lhsaid said
What I know about autodeposit is that for a given email address, you can set it up so that next time you receive another transfer it gets deposited automatically. So, if you receive a transfer from a source for the first time it can not be deposited automatically.  

That is not correct. I have received many e-transfers from first-time senders and they have all been autodeposited.

I use a unique email address for etransfers. Gmail has sent other's mail to me that were similar email addresses.
I would let my bank handle a mistaken etransfer.

It's not theft if you had no involvement.

All you do is send a message to the person saying they erroneously put money into your account, tell them do what you have to do, and let the money sit there. Take no action, you had nothing to do with the money coming in, let the sender and/or banks, etc figure it out.

You, the sender, and the banks involved will have to find some way that the sender waives his/her rights to challenge the original e-Transfer in return for you returning the funds.

After all, you are willing to return the funds. You just don't want to return the funds and see the original e-Transfer reversed afterwards somehow.

Sender can take legal action in court. Settling the court action would be safer.

The situation can be explained to the sender.

Wire transfers and direct deposits have a mechanism to correct errors. I don't think Interac e-Transfers do.

The Interac terms and conditions may have some info that would be helpful.
https://www.interac.ca/en/interac-e-transfer-terms-of-use/

I haven't reviewed fully but this might be relevant.

"1.6 (e) Until you have attempted to deposit the Interac e-Transfer transaction or the transaction has been automatically deposited, the sender may cancel the Interac e-Transfer transaction and you will no longer have a right to collect the Interac e-Transfer transaction. Interac may also decline to complete the Interac e-Transfer transaction because: you have supplied incorrect information; you cannot answer the sender’s question; your personal information cannot be verified; Interac or a participating financial institution suspects that you, or any other party to the transaction is involved in illegal or wrongful activity; or the Interac e-Transfer transaction exceeds a transaction limit. If the Interac e-Transfer transaction cannot be completed, we will automatically notify the sender that it must be cancelled. If the Interac e-Transfer transaction is cancelled for any of the above reasons, your sole remedy for non-payment is against the sender and you will have no claim against Interac."

"1.12 Records of Transactions:
A confirmation will be sent by electronic communication to you and the other party to the Interac e-Transfer transaction when, according to Interac’s records, an Interac e-Transfer transaction has been initiated to or declined by you; when an Interac e-Transfer transaction has been processed; or when the funds have been sent back to the financial institution of the sender. You should print or otherwise retain a copy of these communications for your own files. Interac does not guarantee the accuracy of transaction records, may not be able to reproduce such records at a later date and will not be liable for any losses caused by your failure to retain such records or your reliance on such records. If you think a confirmation or transaction record is incorrect, you must contact Interac no later than 30 (thirty) calendar days after a transaction confirmation has been sent to you; otherwise the confirmation will be deemed to be correct. Any dispute relating to records of transactions from the Interac e-Transfer service will be resolved as set out in section 1.20."

Also see the Interac FAQ page:
https://www.interac.ca/en/consumers/support/faq-consumers/

"I need to cancel a transfer, but the recipient has already accepted the deposit. How do I reverse an Interac e-Transfer transaction?
Unfortunately, once a deposit has been made there is no way to reverse the transaction. You’ll have to make arrangements directly with the recipient. You should only send money transfers to parties you know and trust. For most Interac e-Transfer uses (sending money to family and friends, repaying IOUs, sending money as gifts, etc.), you will know the recipient well. For uses where you may not know the recipient (e.g., online auction purchases), take the same precautions you would take when making cash purchases. For online auctions and purchases, be sure to read and follow any steps recommended by the operators of these websites to safely transact."

Delete auto deposit at CIBC Online and go to your chosen alternative institution, set up e-transfers there, and if you choose, set that one to Auto Deposit.

My spouse often has to alternate between RBC and Scotia depending on the nature of the e-transfer at any given time. In her case, she does not use auto deposit..... so that when she receives the e-transfer, she can pick which FI in which to deposit it.

Thanks Alta & Doug.

Winnie, I think what you received is a scam. There is a daily limit of $3000 for e-transfer. The amount showing in the picture is over that. NO WAY.

Do not click on the button or links in the message or your computer might be infected with virus.

I do not want to deposit money, that someone sent by mistake.

I also do not want to click on the button just to see, if that "Deposit your Money" link is to real Interac's web site or not.

Maybe someone knows, how to see that link address without clicking? I don't want to get some virus.
If we can find out that link address, we will know, if it's a scam or just a simple mistake.