A last-minute account change arrives just as you’re ready to pay. Or someone claiming to protect your savings tells you to move them now. Start by separating the request from the person making it: end the conversation and contact the real organization independently. If money has already left, call the sending bank right away.
Already sent the wire? Contact your bank immediately
Use the bank’s official app, the contact information on your bank records or a known branch. Explain that you suspect fraud and ask for urgent help with that specific transfer. The FTC advises people who paid a scammer by bank transfer to report it immediately and ask for the payment to be reversed and the money refunded.
Tell the bank what happened accurately: someone deceived you into authorizing the payment, someone used your account without permission, or you discovered suspicious destination details. Give the amount, date and confirmation you have. Ask which cancellation, recall or return steps remain available and request a case number.
- Contact the sending bank now; gather extra documents while its team starts reviewing the transfer.
- Ask whether the wire is pending or sent, what recovery action it can take and whether it can contact the receiving institution.
- Save the bank’s case number, the action it confirms and the next follow-up time.
- Preserve the original payment request, receipt and messages for the bank and official fraud reports.
The FBI’s business email compromise guidance recommends contacting the financial institution immediately and asking it to contact the institution that received the transfer. The wire cancellation and return guide explains the questions to ask about each stage.
Which requests deserve a pause before you pay?
Wire-transfer scams often rely on an urgent story or a familiar-looking sender. The FBI describes criminals impersonating known contacts and entering real email conversations about payments. Review the destination and purpose again whenever the request changes.
Scroll across the table to see all columns.
| Request or behavior | What to do before paying |
|---|---|
| A new account appears shortly before payment | Call the established recipient using a number you already trust and confirm the change |
| The sender insists you act immediately or avoid discussing it | End the conversation and verify the claimed reason through the real organization |
| A caller says to move savings to protect them | Contact your bank independently and describe exactly what the caller requested |
| A message supplies a new phone number to verify itself | Obtain the organization’s contact details independently before calling |
| Someone asks for another payment to release or recover lost money | Pause further payments and discuss the demand with your bank or the authority handling the report |
The CFTC warns about instructions to move money from supposed bank, government or support representatives. Its advice is to end the conversation and independently contact the institution using a verified number or official website.
How should you verify changed wire instructions?
Contact the intended recipient using a previously established number or contact information you found independently. Ask it to confirm the beneficiary name, receiving bank, account details, amount and payment reference through its verified process. Keep the confirmed instructions with the purchase or invoice record.
Hypothetical example: an invoice for $8,500 is followed by an email announcing a new receiving account. You call the number on your existing vendor record and ask whether the change is authorized. Resolve the account change with that contact before arranging payment. A reply within the same email thread would leave you relying on the channel that introduced the change.
The instruction-verification checklist walks through the payment fields. If you’re paying a business, ask which person or department is authorized to confirm its instructions and use that process for later changes too.
What should you tell the bank’s fraud team?
Give a short account of the payment and the reason you suspect fraud. Lead with the transfer details you already have. If the bank needs a receipt, email file or full account information, use the secure process its official support team specifies.
A message you can adapt is: “I suspect fraud involving a wire for [amount and currency], submitted on [date], confirmation [reference]. I [authorized it after receiving false instructions / did not authorize it]. Please confirm its current status and take the available urgent recovery steps. What is my case number, and when should I follow up?”
For follow-up, ask whether the bank has identified the wire and contacted the receiving side, and what response it has received. The wire-tracking guide explains payment references. An IMAD may help identify a Fedwire message if that system was used.
Which records should you save, and where can you report it?
Save the original messages and attachments, the payment instructions, the transfer receipt and the contact details used by the person who approached you. Record the dates of calls and the bank’s case number. Keep originals so the investigating team can review the information in context.
Report internet-enabled fraud through the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3, and report the scam through the FTC’s ReportFraud service. Use the official forms’ instructions for the information they need. Keep the complaint confirmation with your bank case so you can provide the relevant references during follow-up.
If you disclosed a password or gave someone access to a device, tell the bank about that too. The FTC’s response guide covers steps for compromised personal information and computer access as well as payments. Start those protections through the institution’s official channels.
What about recovery offers or a Bitcoin purchase?
Keep recovery discussions with the bank and the authorities handling your report. The FBI warns about cryptocurrency recovery schemes that seek advance fees, claim official connections or demand further payments after an initial deposit. Save those approaches with your evidence. Keep banking passwords, sign-in codes and wallet recovery phrases private.
For a wire connected to a Bitcoin order, contact the verified purchase provider urgently and ask which payment or fulfillment steps it can still stop or review. Keep the bank-transfer status and the crypto-delivery status together in your report. The wire-transfer buying guide explains the separate instruction, funding-review, quote and delivery stages.
Fiat2Bitcoin’s public purchase service remains in launch preparation. If the payment concerns another provider, use that provider’s established support process alongside the bank’s fraud response.
Sources & further reading
General payment information and purchase-specific details serve different purposes. Review the current offer and terms before proceeding.
- FTC: What to do if you paid a scammer or shared personal information
- FBI: Business email compromise, verification and reporting
- CFTC: Unusual money-transfer instructions and independent verification
- FBI/IC3: Fraudulent cryptocurrency recovery services
Original Fiat2Bitcoin guide. Examples are illustrative; they are not live quotes or customer transactions. How we prepare our guides.
