Ontario woman loses $500 sending e-transfer to wrong phone number
CTV
An Ontario woman helping her aunt buy a flight to visit family in the Philippines was shocked she lost $500 while sending an e-transfer.
A Mississauga, Ont. woman helping her aunt buy a flight to visit family in the Philippines was shocked she lost $500 while sending an e-transfer.
“We found out I forgot to change the phone number to her new phone number and she didn't get the money," Rowena Jubinal told CTV News Toronto.
When you e-transfer, you can send it to an email address or mobile phone number, and Jubinal said she had her aunt’s phone number saved previously saved from a prior transaction.
Jubinal sent a $500 e-transfer, the money was auto deposited, but her aunt said she never received the funds.
Jubinal said she realized after that her aunt changed her phone number, so the money went to whoever had her aunt’s old number. So, Jubinal called her bank.
"They said they couldn't do anything because it had already been deposited to the telephone owner's number,” said Jubinal.
In 2022, Interac said there were over one billion e-transfers sent across Canada with very few problems. But,if you do happen to send money to the wrong recipient, it's like you sent cash and it's difficult to get it back.
