Lake View has put out a warning that E-Transfers are being intercepted in great numbers over the last half year.
Interac E-Transfers have become a common way of transferring money from one person to another.
While the E-Transfers themselves are safe, the typical vector of attach comes from a bad guy being able to access the recipient’s email address. This often happens when the email password is easy to guess or—more likely—the person has clicked on a malicious email link, or phishing link, which allows the bad guys access into the person’s account.
Once there, the bad guy can watch for E-Transfer notifications, and clicks on the deposit button before the recipient is able to.
Of course, the bad guy still doesn’t have access to the answer to the security question…unless the answer is in the email itself, or if the sender has sent the answer by email, or if the question is easy to answer: for example, what colour is the sky?
These attacks are not generally targeted, but a crime of opportunity once a phishing email has been clicked on.
Here are a few tips you can use to reduce your likelihood of being victimized by these kinds of attacks, provided by Lake View:
- Register for auto deposit (if enabled for your financial institution). Having funds automatically deposited into your account removes the risk of a criminal intercepting the deposit email.
- Select questions and answers that are 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.
- Do not put the answer to the security question in the message box.
- Be cautious of Phishing links and ensure that you are only transacting with trusted websites, vendors and people.
- Immediately notify your financial institution if you sense anything suspicious about your transaction.
Because of the way E-Transfers are set up, there is no guarantee that the funds will be recovered, and you may have to cover these expenses out of your own pocket. This is why good security is important.
