An Ontario man says it took his bank more than two months to investigate after he accidentally sent $3,000 by e-transfer to an old email address belonging to his daughter that had previously been hacked.
At first, officials with his bank told him they were not at fault and the funds would not be reimbursed.
“I’m very sad, I’m very hurt. I’ve been waiting for over two months. I cannot sleep at night,” Joseph Pazarlis said.
Earlier in the summer, Pazarlis said he sent a $3,000 e-transfer from his Bank of Montreal (BMO) account to his daughter, who lives in British Columbia.
“I called my daughter immediately to see if she got the money and she said, ‘No. Where is the money? There is no money here,’” Pazarlis said.
Pazarlis told CTV News it was then he noticed the e-transfer was sent to her old email address that had been hacked. He contacted his bank and he said it took two months to investigate the claim.
During this time, Pazarlis said he sent another $3,000 to his daughter to help her out, money which he said he was saving for a trip to Greece.
In an interview with CTV News, Claudiu Popa, a cyber security expert, said that “email addresses and phone numbers can change, and advises to double check the information being used for e-transfers, to make sure they are accurate.”
“Most errors are on the human side so take an extra few seconds to pay attention to verify all the information is correct and verify the address you are sending it to as well,” Popa said and added, “it doesn’t cost anything to make a quick phone call and read out the email address over the phone one final time.”
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In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson on behalf of BMO said, “Given the priority we place on client confidentiality, we’re unable to disclose details of this specific matter, but would encourage you to reach out to the client for an update.”
“With scammers going to great lengths to gain access to personal information, it is more important than ever for clients to protect their security by creating strong, unique passwords for password-protected e-transfers, sharing those passwords securely with the intended recipient, and carefully reviewing recipient information before completing transactions.”
“We immediately reviewed this matter after our client was in contact with us. The case has now been resolved,” the spokesperson said.
Pazarlis was eventually reimbursed the $3,000 for the missing e-transfer.
“We got the money back and we’re going to Greece for a wedding,” Pazarlis said.
With files from Farah Chandani
