How a small mistake with an e-transfer almost cost an Ontario family $4,182

An Ontario family expecting more than $4,000 was shocked their money was sent to someone else because of a typo. CTV’S Pat Foran reports for Consumer Alert.

It was last year when Mike Underwood and his partner Jessica Robertson decided to make a change and sell their home in Beaverton to buy a condo in the Dominican Republic.

The couple told CTV News Toronto they wanted to spend more family time down south and also rent the condo out as an investment.

However, when the couple was expecting their first rent payment, they found out the money was accidently sent to someone else also named Mike Underwood.

“It’s an Interac e-transfer situation that has left $4,000 of our money now missing for two months,” said Underwood.

Someone had agreed to rent the pair’s condo for an extended period of time and was asked to send an e-transfer of $4,182 to cover the cost. That’s when Robertson realized she mistakenly left out two numbers in Underwood’s email address.

That money ended up going to another ‘Mike Underwood’ and was automatically deposited into his TD Bank account when it should’ve been sent to a Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) account.

“I panicked and messaged [the renter] right away. I said, ‘I’m very sorry, this is the wrong email address, it’s a mistake. Can we send this back? Is there something we can do right away?‘” said Robertson.

Luckily for the couple, the Mike Underwood who received their funds saw it was a mistake and contacted his bank to say he shouldn’t have received the money.

Despite both Mike Underwoods agreeing this was an error, an ongoing fraud investigation has kept the funds stuck in limbo for over two months.

‘They just throw up their hands’

“I don’t understand what type of system doesn’t have a safety net for a human error as simple as a typo,” said Underwood.

When CTV News Toronto reached out to Interac, a spokesperson said in a statement, “Once a deposit has been made, the transaction cannot be reversed. It’s important to ensure that the person you’re sending funds to or receiving funds from is trusted, and that you’ve cross referenced the total amount of funds you have inputted to send and who you’re sending it to.”

“They just throw up their hands and say you need to contact the recipient and get it yourself,” said Underwood.

Following an investigation, TD worked with RBC to get the funds to the intended Mike Underwood.

The couple told CTV News they recently received the amount of $4,182 in their bank account, which was a great relief for them.

“We are thankful to get this money back and appreciate CTV News looking into this situation for us,” said Underwood.

When sending an e-transfer, Interac suggests the following recommendations so consumers can avoid similar situations.

Interac advises to confirm the recipient’s contact information by validating their email address before hitting send. If the recipient is registered for autodeposit, a pop-up will appear with the legal name of the person you are sending the funds to. This offers an opportunity to validate you are sending funds to the intended individual.

Interac also suggests to keep your e-transfer profile information up-to-date with your financial institutions, such as your email address or phone number, just as you would update your mailing address if you moved.

In situations where you may have mistakenly sent funds to the wrong party, or if you believe you have experienced a scam, Interac suggests to reach out to your financial institution for support.