Vanita Lindsay was paid $8,816.20 for a job she never worked.

About a year ago, the stay-at-home mom from Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia, decided to apply for a job with the federal government that would allow her to work from home.

They added her to a hiring group and then asked her to take some online tests. In July, she interviewed and was offered a position as a clerk at a Canada Pension Plan call center.

After spending 20 years out of the workforce and living with a chronic illness, Lindsay began thinking better just days before starting her new job.

“I emailed him the next morning and said, ‘I’m sorry, it has nothing to do with you guys or anything, but I just can’t do the job.’ So I thought that was it,” Lindsay said. ” So go ahead and enjoy the summer.”

Fast forward to August 14, when he checked his online banking.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God, they paid me,'” Lindsay said.

He immediately emailed his potential supervisor, but received no response. Two weeks later, he got paid again.

He now sent numerous emails and made several phone calls, only to be told that the issue had been fixed or was currently being investigated. Amid conflicting messages, the money keeps coming.

“I put it all in a different account because it’s not my money,” Lindsay said.

The family has been trying to return the money without success.

“With my husband’s career, I don’t need that money,” Lindsay said. “It should go to someone who is struggling to feed their children.”

She worries that the family will be placed in a higher tax bracket and that the additional income could affect their child tax benefit and pharmaceutical care.

“It’s hilarious, weird and a little confusing,” Lindsay said.

CTV News reached out to the federal government for comment but did not receive a response by deadline.

Meanwhile, Lindsay just wants the paychecks to stop.

“I want it done because it’s just ridiculous,” Lindsay said.