An Ottawa woman lost $1,000 in seconds to a fake Poshmark buyer — here’s how to spot the same trick

“It doesn’t make a difference what age you are, what your job is, how smart you think you are,” Bray told CTV News. “These scammers — they have a process that they’ve gone through to check all the boxes. And once they feel like they have you, they are going to take advantage, and you will be victimized.”

What is e-transfer fraud?

According to the federal government, e-transfer fraud occurs when a scammer acts as either a sender or recipient in a fraudulent e-transfer transaction. Scammers typically use phishing techniques — sending links that trick users into revealing their personal information on a fake website or form — to initiate these e-transfers.

In Bray’s case, she was prompted to log into her bank from a phishing link, which gave her banking login details to the scammer — and use the banking details to e-transfer funds from Bray’s account.

How do scammers use information about you to trap you?

To entice users to click on these malicious links, scammers use an emotionally exploitative technique known as social engineering. They research potential targets’ backgrounds, such as their search history or social media usage, to learn more about them and how they act. Then they send a message from a company or person the victim likely trusts based on the information collected — this could be from an employer, co-worker, familiar company or another trusted source.

In Bray’s case, the scammer used social engineering to pretend to be a Poshmark client, which was extremely convincing given she had an active listing on the marketplace.

Bray’s experience with e-transfer fraud isn’t unique, either. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s (CAFC) 2024 Annual Report, phishing was one of the fastest-growing frauds it tracked that year, with victimization up 6.8%, and the dollar loss tied to e-transfer payments specifically rose 26.1% year-over-year, with over $36 million paid to scammers. In the last few years, this trend hasn’t reversed: Canadians lost more than $704 million to fraud overall in 2025 — the highest annual total on record — according to CAFC data cited by the federal Competition Bureau.

How you can spot e-transfer scams

E-transfer scams that use sophisticated social engineering can be hard to spot, but there are some common ways to tell if an e-transfer request is malicious. Here are some tips to help you catch the common tactics.

• Double check the URL. While a scammer can make a link in an email look legitimate, as in Bray’s scam, it’s much harder to create a legitimate-looking website address. If you receive an e-transfer request link that looks real, hover over it with your cursor (or press and hold if you’re on a smartphone) to reveal where it leads
• Watch for manipulation tactics. If someone is pressuring you to send an e-transfer with threats, a reward that seems too good to be true, or emotional manipulation, don’t go any further in the conversation — it’s likely a scam
• Look for odd spelling or grammatical errors. Scammers often use email addresses or links that are similar but not identical to legitimate ones (e.g. interac-transfers.ca instead of interac.ca). Inconsistent spelling or an odd web address usually means you’re dealing with a scammer

What to do if you fall victim

Falling prey to an e-transfer scam isn’t something to be ashamed of — fraudsters have developed sophisticated tactics aimed at anyone who banks online. If you do get scammed via e-transfer fraud, follow these steps:

• Contact your financial institutions. Notify the bank the e-transfer was sent from so they can flag your accounts, and report the fraud to both credit bureaus (TransUnion and Equifax) so they can monitor your accounts too
• Change your passwords. Immediately change all passwords for any accounts with login information similar or identical to what the scammer used to defraud you
• Report the fraud. Let your local police service know so they can track the suspicious activity, and report it to the CAFC through its online portal or by phone at 1-888-495-8501
• Keep organized records. Gather everything you can about the fraudulent transaction, including emails, text messages and receipts

Getting your money back after an e-transfer scam can be difficult. Because you willingly gave your personal information to a third party, banks can decide that you didn’t meet your security responsibilities and shouldn’t be reimbursed for the loss. For best results, be sure to act quickly and present your case clearly.

Bottom line

E-transfers move money in seconds, which is exactly why scammers favour them — there’s no undo button once a transfer is accepted. Before you click any payment link, confirm the request through a second channel, like a phone call or text to a number you already have on file, not one in the message itself. A few extra seconds of doubt is a lot cheaper than watching hundreds or thousands leave your account.