Is Interac e-Transfer a Scam?

Our verdict

Canadians moved over $400 billion through Interac e-Transfer in 2023 — more than 1 billion transactions. It is the backbone of person-to-person payments in this country, and scammers exploit it for exactly the same reasons everyone else loves it: it is instant, universal, and nearly impossible to reverse.

Interac Corp. has run Canada's interbank network since 1984. The Bank of Canada designated Interac as a prominent payment system — putting it alongside Visa and Mastercard in terms of systemic importance. The Competition Bureau announced 2025 monitoring of Interac's pricing commitments as it shifts to flat-fee structures. The system is not a scam — it is regulated, encrypted, and genuinely secure. The CAFC reported $704 million in total fraud losses across Canada in 2025, and e-Transfer was the most common payment method in reported scams. The problem is not the technology. The problem is that scammers have a favorite tool, and this is it.

In May 2024, Interac raised the daily e-Transfer limit from $3,000 to $10,000 — user-settable through your banking app. The convenience is real, but so is the risk: scammers who compromise an online banking account can now drain up to $10,000 per day instead of $3,000, often maxing the limit overnight before the account holder notices. Autodeposit changed the security picture dramatically. Before it existed, scammers could intercept transfers by compromising email accounts and guessing weak security questions. With Autodeposit enabled, money goes directly into the recipient's bank account — no question required. Over 60% of users now have it turned on, and Interac says interception fraud has dropped sharply as a result. If you have not enabled it, do that today.

Interception fraud is the sneakiest pattern: a scammer compromises your email, watches for an incoming e-Transfer notification, and diverts the money by answering the security question before the real recipient does. Autodeposit blocks this entirely, but not everyone uses it. Once an e-Transfer is deposited, your bank can only claw it back if the recipient's bank cooperates — which rarely happens. One victim received a $3,000 auto-deposit from a hacked account, returned the money at the scammer's request via a new transfer, and then had the bank reverse the original — leaving them $3,000 in the hole. TD, RBC, and Scotiabank have added fraud warning prompts, but these vary by institution.

The scams hitting Canadians hardest right now: CRA impersonators threatening arrest unless you pay by e-Transfer — the CRA never does this. Rental scams on Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace collecting $1,000 to $3,000 deposits for listings that do not exist. Job scams that send you an e-Transfer and ask you to forward part of it, making you an unwitting money mule. The RCMP has issued public advisories on all three patterns.

Send e-Transfers freely to people you know in real life. Never send one to a stranger, never send one because someone on the phone told you to, and never forward money that was sent to you by someone you have not met. Report suspected fraud to the CAFC at 1-888-495-8501 and your bank immediately.

Editorial note: This article reflects the state of publicly available information at the time of writing. Business practices, ownership, and safety records change over time. TrustChekr is not affiliated with any company reviewed here and does not receive payment for editorial coverage. Verdicts are based on documented evidence and are subject to revision.