A Brampton landlord is still reeling after two rent payments intended for him were intercepted by scammers using a sophisticated e-transfer fraud scheme.

“I’m still in shock,” Jai Walia, a landlord of two rental units, told CTV News Toronto. Walia, who asks his tenants to pay rent via e-transfer, was expecting payments of $2,000 and $2,500 in September. Despite his tenants sending the money, Walia never saw the funds appear in his account.

It wasn’t until later that Walia discovered his email account had been hacked, and he had fallen victim to a scam known as Interac e-transfer interception fraud.

“I don’t use autodeposit, I use security questions,” Walia explained. “It seems criminals were able to use my hacked email to set up autodeposit for their own bank account, so the money my tenants sent was rerouted into the scammers’ account.”

Walia expressed his disbelief at how the fraudsters were able to target him, despite having no direct connection to his tenants. “How can one single email be used by two completely unrelated individuals?” he said. “I feel scared, what if this happens again in other ways?”

Nick Biasini, a cybersecurity expert with Cisco Talos, said that email security is just as crucial as protecting bank account and credit card passwords.

“Don’t underestimate the importance of securing your email,” Biasini advised. “Once fraudsters have access to your email inbox, they can reset your passwords for almost any service you use, and they’ll receive the reset links themselves.”

To protect against e-transfer fraud, Biasini recommends turning on autodeposit. Interac states that autodeposit is a secure option that helps prevent fraud by verifying the transaction and ensuring that funds are deposited directly into the recipient’s account, without the need for security questions.

Though one of Walia’s tenants was able to recover the money and pay their rent, the other tenant was unable to reclaim the $2,000 lost to the fraudsters. Walia has since switched his account to autodeposit to safeguard against future scams.

“I feel sorry for anyone out there who’s falling victim to these scammers,” Walia said. “It’s a scary situation.”