An Ontario man says his bank has reimbursed him $3,000 after an e-transfer he sent to his daughter went to her old, hacked email address.
Joseph Pazarlis told CTV News it took the Bank of Montreal more than two months to investigate the claim after he sent the money earlier this summer.
"I'm very sad, I'm very hurt. I've been waiting for over two months. I cannot sleep at night," Pazarlis said.
He said he sent the $3,000 e-transfer from his 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.
He then realized the transfer was sent to an old email address of hers that had been hacked. Pazarlis contacted his bank and said it took two months to investigate the claim.
Pazarlis said bank officials initially told him they were not at fault and the funds would not be reimbursed.
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 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," the spokesperson said.
"We immediately reviewed this matter after our client was in contact with us. The case has now been resolved," the spokesperson added.
In an interview with CTV News, cybersecurity expert Claudiu Popa 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.
He added, "it doesn't cost anything to make a quick phone call and read out the email address over the phone one final time."
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.
e2gold.ca reported in October that major Canadian banks, including BMO, are blocking third-party AI agents from accessing online banking to protect client information.
This story was written by the e2gold.ca newsroom from reporting by BNN Bloomberg and CTV News. Quotes are checked word for word against that reporting.