# Are e-transfers safe? Need Answer Fast! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 2, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-e-transfers-safe-need-answer-fast/742021 "2016-01-02T21:38:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-e-transfers-safe-need-answer-fast/742021/1 "2016-01-02T21:38:29Z")
I posted an item on the local Kijiji for $200. Someone from a few hours away has asked to buy the item with an e-transfer and have me mail it. I’ve never done an e-transfer and don’t really know how it works. Is this safe? She said she emails me the funds and then I put them into my account. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-e-transfers-safe-need-answer-fast/742021/2 "2016-01-02T21:40:10Z")
Use PayPal. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-e-transfers-safe-need-answer-fast/742021/3 "2016-01-02T21:46:11Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Use PayPal. I decided to not do the e-transfer. I said I’d take a money order instead. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-e-transfers-safe-need-answer-fast/742021/4 "2016-01-02T22:15:54Z")
[Good call.](https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnsum13/wire-transfer-scams.html) ---
**Author:** ![kbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbear)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-e-transfers-safe-need-answer-fast/742021/5 "2016-01-02T22:35:07Z")
Keep in mind that the warning above applied to people being pressured to wire money to people they didn’t know. The OP’s customer was offering to wire the money for a purchase which wouldn’t be risky for the recipient as the goods hadn’t been shipped yet. I’ve used e-transfer in Canada for years with no issue. Banking info is not given out (which is quite common and works well in the UK) only an email address. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-e-transfers-safe-need-answer-fast/742021/6 "2016-01-02T23:08:41Z")
When I had a Chase account, I used Chase’s QuickPay several times with family members. It’s basically a peer-to-peer system for funds exchange. Similar to PayPal, without the risk of opening an account with a third party. A link is emailed or texted to the recipient, who provides their banking information to complete the transfer. I wouldn’t trust any such setup coming from a stranger, however. Whether it’s Western Union, a mailed check, or even PayPal in some cases, remote payers are often scammers. The point of using sites like Craigslist and Kijiji rather than eBay is that your target market is local, so they can come to you and pay cash. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-e-transfers-safe-need-answer-fast/742021/7 "2016-01-02T23:25:59Z")
Thank you for the replies. I’m glad I decided to not try the transfer. If it was family I would be fine but it just seemed like I could end up getting scammed. She said she’d think about the money order so we’ll see. And yeah, I didn’t really want to get into shipping things which is why I just used Kijiji. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-e-transfers-safe-need-answer-fast/742021/8 "2016-01-03T19:37:25Z")
Had to check your location to make sure we are talking about the same thing - Hi fellow Edmontonian! 😃 Sounds like you are using the same kind of E-transfers that I regularly use. You can be ripped off regardless of which payment method you use, but I am **not** convinced E-transfers between your bank account and the recipient’s bank account are much more dangerous than sending a money order; you don’t find out his banking information and he doesn’t find out yours. Make sure you choose a reasonable password to authenticate the transfer; hopefully you can come up with a question that the recipient already knows the answer to (and that random strangers aren’t likely to guess).