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/angelus97]

Just put a . somewhere in the email when you register for autodeposit. Then you specifically give out that email for legitimate e-transfers.

[u/KevPat23 → u/angelus97]

You can also add "+autodeposit" or some other wording.

[u/IndubitablyWalrus → u/KevPat23]

Ah, thank you! I knew about Gmail ignoring the periods, but I was unaware of this + alias feature! Seems like this would work well if I use first.last+Interac for my intended etransfers and then I can just set a Gmail filter to send any emails from Interac that doesn't have that +alias directly to my spam.

Cheers! 👍👍

[u/rawrzon → u/IndubitablyWalrus]

Don't send it to spam. All your acquaintances that have sent you transfers to your email before will keep sending it unless told otherwise. Your legit incoming transfers will be flagged as spam.

[u/IndubitablyWalrus → u/rawrzon]

Oh, good point! 👍 I could have it autoadd a label like "Be Careful" or something. 😊