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You sent a wire to a scammer: what to do in the first hours
If you have sent a wire transfer to a scammer, the next few hours matter more than anything you can do later. Call the bank that sent the money immediately and ask them to attempt a recall, then report it to the authorities. A wire is not instant to settle, and a fast recall request is occasionally enough to stop it. Once the money has been withdrawn at the other end, it is usually gone.
Do this now
If this happened in the last day or two, stop reading after this section and make the calls. You can read the rest afterwards.
1. Call the bank that sent the wire. Not the branch, the fraud department. Tell them you sent a wire as the result of a scam and ask them to attempt a recall or a SWIFT recall on the transfer. Speed is the whole game here.
2. Ask them to contact the receiving bank. Your bank can send a request to the bank that received the funds asking it to freeze them. This works only before the money is withdrawn at the other end.
3. Report it to the authorities straight away. In the United States, file at ic3.gov. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center operates a process that can, in some cases, help recover or freeze funds when a report comes in fast enough. Our guide to filing with IC3 walks through it.
4. Write down the times. When you sent it, when you realised, when you called. This timeline matters for every step that follows.
Everything else can wait an hour. These four cannot.
Why speed decides this
A wire transfer feels instant to you, but the money moves through a chain of banks and does not become untouchable the moment you click send. For a window, sometimes hours, sometimes a day or two, the funds sit somewhere they can still be stopped.
What closes that window is the scammer withdrawing or moving the money at the receiving end. Once they have, there is nothing to recall. This is why the first hours matter so much more than the following weeks: you are racing the person on the other side to the same money.
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center runs a Recovery Asset Team that works with financial institutions to attempt to freeze fraudulently transferred funds. Its published annual reports describe this as most effective when the fraud is reported quickly and the transaction details are complete. It is not a guarantee, and it is not something you trigger directly, filing the IC3 complaint fast and completely is how your case reaches it.
Reporting in secondary coverage often cites a 72-hour window for this kind of recall effort. Treat that as a rule of thumb rather than a hard deadline: sooner is always better, and being outside it does not mean you should not report.
Who to call, in order
1. Your bank's fraud department. The number is on the back of your card or on the bank's official website. Say the words "I sent a wire as a result of a fraud", that phrasing routes you correctly. Ask specifically for a wire recall.
2. The receiving bank, through your bank. You generally cannot contact it directly and have it act, but your bank can send a formal request. Ask your bank to do this.
3. The authorities. IC3 in the US; Action Fraud in the UK; your national fraud reporting line elsewhere. File fast, with the transaction details.
4. A lawyer, only if the amount is large. For a significant loss, a lawyer may be able to pursue a freezing order faster than the standard process. This is worth it only above a threshold where legal fees make sense.
What to have ready when you call
Have these in front of you before you dial, because the bank will ask and every minute counts:
- The date and time you sent the wire
- The amount and currency
- The receiving account details you were given. Account number, routing or SWIFT, account name, bank name
- How you were contacted and what you were told, in one or two sentences
- Your own account details for the sending account
What not to do
Do not wait to "see if it resolves." It will not resolve on its own, and waiting only lets the scammer withdraw the funds.
Do not contact the scammer to ask for the money back. It achieves nothing, and it tells them you have noticed, which prompts them to move the money faster.
Do not send a second payment. If they are now asking for a "release fee", a "tax", or anything to "unlock" the first transfer, that is the same fraud continuing. No legitimate process requires you to pay to recover your own money.
Do not pay anyone who contacts you offering to recover the wire for a fee. Within days of a loss, recovery scammers appear. Our guide on spotting a recovery scam covers how they work.
If the wire bought cryptocurrency
A common version of this is a wire sent to what looked like an investment platform, which then showed your money as a crypto balance you could never withdraw. If that is your situation, two things are true at once.
The wire itself may still be recallable by the steps above, because the money moved as an ordinary bank transfer before any crypto was involved. That is often better news than it feels like, because bank transfers leave a stronger trail than on-chain transfers.
And the platform was likely a fake trading platform. The balance it showed you was a number on a screen, not cryptocurrency you owned.
After the first hours
Once the urgent calls are made, preserve everything. Our evidence checklist covers what matters: the messages, the platform, the account details, the timeline. Then file the fuller report if you have not, and expect a second approach from someone offering to help recover the funds.
Checklist
First hour
- [ ] Called the sending bank's fraud department
- [ ] Asked for a wire recall
- [ ] Asked them to request a freeze at the receiving bank
- [ ] Filed with IC3 or the national fraud line
- [ ] Wrote down every time and detail
Same day
- [ ] Preserved all messages and account details
- [ ] Did not send any further payment
- [ ] Noted whether the wire had bought "crypto" on a platform
What this guide cannot do
A fast recall sometimes works and often does not, depending on how quickly the money was withdrawn at the other end. Nothing here guarantees recovery, and most funds withdrawn by a scammer are not returned. Acting fast gives you the best chance that exists, which is not the same as a good chance.
This is general information, not legal or financial advice, and recall procedures differ by bank and country.
Use Chain Pursuit's free tools to understand your options, preserve evidence, and identify possible recovery scams. Do not share your seed phrase or private keys with anyone.
Sources
Internet Crime Complaint Center, File a Complaint. https://www.ic3.gov/Home/ComplaintChoice, confirms IC3 can in some cases help freeze stolen funds when combined with timely reporting, and warns against non-law-enforcement recovery services.
Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 Annual Report. https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2025_IC3Report.pdf, describes the Recovery Asset Team and its role in attempting to freeze fraudulent transfers.
Internet Crime Complaint Center, Frequently Asked Questions. https://www.ic3.gov/Home/FAQ, guidance on reporting, evidence, and what to do urgently.
The specific "72-hour" figure widely cited for wire recall appears in secondary reporting rather than as a stated IC3 deadline; we present it as a rule of thumb. Recall success depends on how fast funds are withdrawn at the receiving end. Reviewed quarterly.
Frequently asked questions
Can a wire transfer to a scammer be reversed?
Sometimes, if you act fast. A wire can occasionally be recalled before the funds are withdrawn at the receiving end. Call the sending bank's fraud department immediately and ask for a recall. Once the scammer has taken the money out, it is usually unrecoverable.
How long do I have to recall a fraudulent wire?
Sooner is always better and there is no reliable fixed deadline. The practical limit is whenever the scammer withdraws the funds, which can be hours. Secondary sources often cite 72 hours as a rule of thumb, but do not treat being outside it as a reason not to report.
Who do I call first after a fraudulent wire?
The fraud department of the bank that sent the money, not the branch. Tell them plainly that you sent a wire because of a fraud and ask for a wire recall. Then file with IC3 or your national fraud reporting line.
The scammer says I need to pay a fee to release my money. Should I?
No. A demand for a tax, release fee, or unlock payment to recover money you already sent is the fraud continuing. No legitimate process makes you pay to get your own money back. Stop, and report it.
I wired money to a crypto investment platform. Is that different?
The wire itself may still be recallable because it moved as a normal bank transfer before any crypto was involved, which is often better news than it feels. The platform was most likely fake, and the crypto balance it showed you was not real. Pursue the wire recall and preserve evidence.
Does filing with IC3 get my money back?
There is no guarantee. Filing fast and completely is how your case can reach the FBI's Recovery Asset Team, which works with banks to attempt freezes. It helps and it does not promise recovery. The urgent call to your own bank matters more in the first hour.
Someone contacted me offering to recover my wire for a fee. Is it legitimate?
Treat it as a scam. Recovery fraudsters target people who have just lost money, often within days. Never pay an upfront fee to recover funds. Report the loss through official channels first, which is free.
What if it has been more than a few days?
Report it anyway. The fast-recall window may have closed, but a report still creates an official record, feeds pattern analysis, and may support other action. The odds are lower, not zero, and reporting costs nothing.
Not sure what can still be done?
Eleven questions showing which documentation and reporting routes are available in your case.
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