Interac e-Transfer® is one of the safest digital money transfer services in the world. When the service is used, the money is transferred using established and secure banking procedures that financial institutions use to settle cheques, bank machine deposits and withdrawals. Money never travels by email or text - these are simply used to notify you that money was sent or requested, as well as provide instructions on how to deposit funds you receive.

This occurs when a legitimate customer sends an e-Transfer to someone they know, but the money intended for the recipient is redirected into a fraudster’s account.  A fraudster’s ability to intercept an incoming Interac e-transfer relies on a recipient’s email address has been compromised and isn’t the result of vulnerabilities in online banking or Interac e-transfer® itself.  Once a fraudster has access to an email address, they can “see” incoming e-transfer deposit instructions and, if they’re able to correctly guess the answer to the required deposit security question, they may seize the opportunity to deposit the funds into their own account. You can protect yourself against this type of fraud by taking extra safety precautions with your email and by registering for Autodeposit, which automatically deposits e-transfer funds into an account of your choice.

There are several ways to protect your email account from being compromised. You should:

• Use two-factor authentication for e-mail; most email providers have this feature.
• Select a strong password for your email account and change it regularly.
• Never use the same password across various accounts.
• Be cautious not to click on any phishing links and ensure that you are only transacting with trusted websites, vendors, and people.

When using Interac e-Transfer®, you should:

• Register for Autodeposit. Autodeposit makes receiving money by Interac e-Transfer® more secure and more convenient. Once Autodeposit is set up, money you receive via Interac e-transfer® will be deposited directly into your account, reducing the risk of the funds ending up in the wrong hands.
• Select a question and answer that is not easy for a third party to guess and cannot easily be found on social media. If the notification is intercepted, it will be harder for a criminal to answer and steal the funds.
• Never share the answer to the security question via email or text.
• Immediately notify your credit union if you sense anything suspicious about your transaction.