Fake E-Transfer Scams on Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace: How to Spot Them

You listed your old bike, a buyer messaged within ten minutes, and now there’s an email in your inbox saying “INTERAC e-Transfer: You’ve received $450.” The buyer is on their way to pick it up.

Before you hand anything over, stop. The fake e-transfer is the most common scam aimed at Canadian sellers, and it works because the email looks almost exactly like the real thing.

How the scam works

1. A “buyer” agrees to your price fast, often without haggling.
2. They ask for your email so they can “send the e-transfer now.”
3. You receive an email that looks like it’s from Interac. Sometimes it says the payment is “pending” until you do something: click a link, log in to your bank, or send money back because they “overpaid.”
4. Either they pick up the item and the money never arrives, or the link steals your banking login.

Variations include a fake “your transfer is on hold, the sender needs to pay an upgrade fee” message, and the classic overpayment trick where they “accidentally” send $900 instead of $450 and ask for the difference back.

6 signs the e-transfer is fake

1. The money isn’t in your bank account. This is the only test that matters. Log in to your banking app directly (not through any link in the email) and check your balance. If it isn’t there, you haven’t been paid.
2. The sender address is off. Real Interac notifications come from notify@payments.interac.ca and include the sender’s full legal name, according to Interac. Look for misspellings, extra words, or Gmail and Outlook addresses.
3. It asks you to do something before you get paid. A real e-transfer never needs you to pay a fee, upgrade an account, or refund an overpayment.
4. The link doesn’t go to your bank. Hover over (or long-press) the deposit button. If the URL isn’t your bank’s real domain, don’t click.
5. The buyer is in a hurry. “My driver is coming in 20 minutes” or “I’m buying it for my son as a surprise” are pressure lines meant to stop you checking.
6. They want to move off the platform fast. Asking for your phone number and email right away, before any real questions about the item, is a pattern.

What to do if you’ve been hit

For the full step-by-step plan, see what to do if you were scammed on Facebook Marketplace. And if you are wondering whether a real transfer can be pulled back later, read can an Interac e-Transfer be reversed?

• Don’t click anything else in the email.
• If you entered your banking details, call your bank right away and change your password.
• Report the email to Interac (phishing@interac.ca) and the listing to the marketplace.
• Report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca, even if you didn’t lose money. It helps them track the pattern.

A safer way to get paid

The real problem is timing: with e-transfers and cash, you either trust the buyer before the handoff or they trust you. Someone takes the risk.

That’s the gap we built LockNDeal to close. Here’s how it works for sellers:

• The buyer locks the money first. They scan your QR code or enter your email in the app, and the funds are held by LockNDeal before you leave the house. You can see the money is real and committed.
• You hand over the item, they get a code. When the buyer is happy with the item, you give them your unique code. They enter it, and the payment is released to you instantly.
• No-shows cost the buyer, not you. Sellers set a deposit amount on their profile. If the buyer doesn’t turn up, you get a no-show fee from that deposit.

There’s no email to fake, because the money is already held by a FINTRAC-registered Money Services Business before you meet.