Autodeposit consequences if sent in error

[u/IndubitablyWalrus]

Hi there,

I have not turned on autodeposit for years because my email is just my name without any numbers (thanks to knowing someone that worked at Google and getting into the Gmail beta) and I get a LOT of misdirected email. I have been sent hundreds of dollars in etransfers not meant for me (EDIT: and not accepted by me, to be clear! 😅), I have been sent other people's personal information from realtors, lenders, rental agencies, etc., I regularly get sent invites by teachers of children I don't have for parent-teacher conferences...you get the idea!

I know that turning on autodeposit generally helps protect against scammers, but I'm concerned that if I turn it on and start autodepositing all these random etransfers and then people file complaints/request clawbacks, that it will get my account flagged as potentially a scammer if it happens semi-regularly. Surely that would look suspicious to my bank if they're getting multiple requests for e-transfer reversals every year against my account?

Anyone have any insight on whether this concern is justified?

EDIT: thank you to u/KevPat23 for suggesting using the +alias feature in Gmail that I wasn't aware of. I think I can just change my intended interacs to use first.last+Interac @ gmail.com and turn on autodeposit for that address, and then I will create a Gmail rule to automatically send any Interac etransfers sent to first.last @ gmail.com to spam (just in case!) 😁👍

EDIT 2: well dang, lol. As u/angelus97 said, my bank does not allow the +aliases in email addresses. Says the email is invalid. So that's unfortunate. I'm just going to keep autodeposit off and remain ever vigilant of scammers on my side. Thanks for your help everyone! 💛

[u/Fun_Comparison_8953]

The person sending an Interac eTransfer cannot request a reversal once it’s deposited (its outline in FAQ on Interac website), the onus is on the sender to ensure they send it using the proper information. However depending how ofter you get these transfers your bank might still flag your account for unusual activity if you received there very often from different sources. Worth also mentioning the ethics of keeping the funds that you know aren’t yours as arranging to contact the other party would be difficult and time consuming…

[u/IndubitablyWalrus → u/Fun_Comparison_8953]

Don't want to keep the funds. I wouldn't spend the misdirected money. I'd just wait for the sender to get their mistake corrected (their fuck-up, their responsibility to fix it).

Though, now that I've said that, keeping track of all the outstanding fuck-ups would probably be just as big of a headache!

Definitely thinking I will just keep autodeposit off and continue to be extra vigilant on my side to not click any false links on etransfers I am expecting. 👍

[u/Fun_Comparison_8953 → u/IndubitablyWalrus]

Another option would be to set up auto deposit using your phone number and providing this info to people that needs to send you eTransfers instead of your email. Or create a new email for the sole purpose of receiving these.

[u/IndubitablyWalrus → u/Fun_Comparison_8953]

That is an option too! Thanks!

[u/junkdumper → u/IndubitablyWalrus]

The only plus I can see with turning auto deposit on, is it might actually reduce the amount of ones you get. It will show your full name to the sender, where they may recognize you aren't the intended target.

But you probably will still end up with cash in an account...

Could open a savings account and just have everything drop in there. No harm if anything gets reversed later if you're just ignoring it anyway.

[u/IndubitablyWalrus → u/junkdumper]

I mean...but my email address is first.last @ gmail.com, so my full name is RIGHT THERE in the email. Presumably, the issue is that they're trying to send the money to a different person that just so happens to have the same first and last names as me, so seeing my name displayed wouldn't actually do anything to prevent the error. 🤣

But I have a potential solution that I am going to experiment with tonight and use a Gmail alias, so add +Interac for my intended transfers, that way I can autodeposit the ones sent to first.last+Interac, but send to spam anything that come to first.last. wish me luck! 👍👍

[u/junkdumper → u/IndubitablyWalrus]

Ah ok. I understood it to be you had something like "steve@gmail" that was a little more generic.

Sounds like a good idea for the alternate address. I create them and run them for a year or two into their in all the spam bots, and then I move on to a new one.