This CBC story recounts the Interac transfer theft of “almost $64,000 from 56 people with accounts at TD, CIBC, Royal Bank, Scotiabank, Tangerine, Simplii, HSBC, Assiniboine Credit Union and Kawartha Credit Union.” The cash may be stolen, it seems, by anyone with an Interac account who has obtained access to the recipient’s mail by gaining the password. The thief must then crack the security question asked of the recipient. Sometimes this will be colossally easy.
Does Interac identity matter?
A question like “Your name in five letters” for a victim named Peter makes it simple. Readers may be shocked to learn that the Interac identity of the recipient apparently doesn’t matter. The story suggests that the cash transfer will go to anyone with an account at any of dozens of institutions regardless of the many ways in which your bank identifies you. Nonetheless, it seems likely that insider knowledge might be required to make such a theft. And the thief has to get to the mail before the proper owner.
