An Ontario woman who pays for her mother’s caregiver was shocked when her recent e-transfer of $1,900 was accidentally sent to the person who used to have the caregiver’s phone number. “During birthdays and Christmas and holidays, I use e-transfers all the time. This is not new to me at all,” Adele Stirpe said. Stirpe, who lives in Richmond Hill, told CTV News that she is usually very careful when sending payments. When sending the funds through e-transfer using the caregiver’s email address, she’s never had any issues. However, it was in March when Stirpe was sending her monthly payment. She used the caregiver’s phone number and she was shocked when the funds were deposited into someone else’s account. “She did not reply that she received it. So I went into my bank account and I saw that it had been withdrawn but she never got it,” Stirpe said. She told CTV News she used the correct phone number as the person she sent the funds to had the number for the past two years. However, whomever had the caregiver’s phone number prior, still had their auto-deposit connected and received the $1,900 into their bank account. “Somebody else had her phone before her and it went to that person’s account,” said Stirpe. Interac responds She banks with TD Bank and was denied a refund. She appealed their decision and was unsuccessful. CTV News reached out to Interac on her behalf. A spokesperson said in a statement, “In this case, it appears this customer routinely sent Interac e-transfer transactions via an email address to this recipient. However, in this instance the Interac e-transfer was sent to a phone number that was not registered for Autodeposit with the intended recipient’s bank account. “The phone number used was previously registered under another individual at another financial institution. This previous registration has now been deactivated,” they said. “Given that the transfer was completed via Autodeposit, the recipient’s legal name is displayed before the transfer is sent, giving the sender the opportunity to validate that they are sending funds to the right person. This case underscores the importance of carefully reviewing the legal name pop up. If it doesn’t match with the intended recipient, the sender should stop and verify they are sending to the right email address or phone number before proceeding with the transaction.” The spokesperson added that as e-transfer is like cash, “it’s important to ensure that the person you’re sending to or receiving from is trusted, and that you’ve cross-referenced the recipient’s name and the total amount of funds you have inputted prior to sending.” According to Interac, there were a total of 1.6 billion Interac e-transfers in 2025. ‘There has been resolution’ CTV News also reached out to TD Bank on her behalf, and a spokesperson said in a statement, “While we cannot speak to any details of the client’s claim, I can confirm our team did connect with the client directly and there has been resolution.” Stirpe has since been given a $1,900 refund. “I’m positive this would not have been resolved without your help. There is no way,” Stirpe said. When sending an e-transfer, it’s generally considered safer to use an email than a phone number. Most people don’t change their main e-mail address, but phone numbers can be recycled or re-assigned when phone plans get cancelled. TD also recommends being vigilant, especially when sending an e-transfer by “ensuring you know who the funds are being transferred to, provide an accurate email address for the recipient, and include an effective security question and answer that isn’t easily guessable and is known only to the sender and the recipient. Double-check before you send that the information of the recipient is correct.” With files from Farah Chandani
