How to Transfer Money to Escrow and Avoid Wire Fraud

To transfer money to escrow, request the wire instructions from your escrow officer, verify every digit by calling the escrow company at a phone number you looked up independently, then send the wire through your bank’s online portal or at a branch at least one to two business days before closing. Most buyers do this twice: once for earnest money after the offer is accepted, and again for the balance of the down payment and closing costs before closing day. The verification call is the part people skip and the part that matters most. Real estate wire fraud cost victims over $173 million in reported losses in 2024, and once a wire settles into a fraudulent account, getting it back is rarely quick and often impossible.¹

Verify the Wire Instructions by Phone First

Criminals break into email accounts belonging to real estate agents, loan officers, and title company staff, then send buyers altered wire instructions that look identical to legitimate ones. The sender address matches. The formatting matches. The tone matches. The routing number does not. The FBI logged more than 9,300 real estate fraud complaints in 2024, and business email compromise schemes, which routinely target closings, accounted for another $2.77 billion in losses across all industries.¹

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends identifying two trusted contacts early in the closing process, such as your real estate agent and settlement agent, and confirming their phone numbers in person. Before wiring any money, call one of those contacts at the number you verified ahead of time and confirm the wire instructions verbally. Never rely on instructions received by email alone, and never use a phone number or link provided in that email to check them.²

If any digit the officer reads back differs from what you have on paper, stop. Do not send anything until the discrepancy is explained.

What the Wire Instructions Should Contain

Your escrow officer or loan coordinator sends a Wire Transfer Instructions form, usually through a secure portal or encrypted email. The form includes:

The legal name of the escrow company
The name and address of the financial institution holding the escrow account
The nine-digit ABA routing number identifying the bank³
The escrow account number
A reference or file number tied to your transaction

The reference number lets the escrow company match your deposit to the right file when they are holding funds for dozens of closings at once. Expect to add the property address on the wire as well, so the escrow team can reconcile the payment against their ledger. A single transposed digit in the routing or account number can send the money to the wrong institution, and recovering a misdirected wire is slow and uncertain.

Sending the Wire: Online or at a Branch

Both methods reach the same destination. They differ in convenience, cost, and the limits your bank will put on the amount.

Online

Through your bank’s online portal, you enter the recipient details exactly as they appear on the escrow form, enter the amount, and move to a review screen. Read that screen carefully against your printed instructions. The bank then triggers multi-factor authentication, typically a one-time code to your phone, before finalizing the order.

The catch is the transaction limit. Bank of America, for example, caps online consumer wire transfers at $1,000 per transaction unless you enroll in enhanced security measures such as a one-time passcode or USB security key.⁴ If your closing funds run into the tens or hundreds of thousands, that default will not work. Contact your bank at least a week before closing to confirm your wire limit and arrange a temporary increase. Some banks handle it in a phone call; others want documentation and several business days.

In person

At a branch, you hand the printed instructions to a teller who enters them into the bank’s system and generates an authorization receipt. You review the receipt, confirm the recipient name and account number match your instructions, and sign. That signature creates a legal record of your payment order under your banking agreement. Branch wires generally accommodate larger amounts without the limit issues that come with online transfers.

Fees

Banks charge a processing fee for outbound domestic wires that depends on where you send it from. At major national banks, fees currently run from $25 for a digital transfer to $40 at a branch.⁵ The fee is separate from your closing costs. Budget for it, but do not let saving $15 push you into sending a six-figure wire from your phone if you would be more comfortable at a teller window.

Timing: Wire a Day or Two Before Closing

Domestic wires settle the same business day when you initiate them before your bank’s internal cutoff. Miss the window and the funds arrive the next business morning.⁶ Behind the scenes, the Fedwire Funds Service operates from 9:00 p.m. ET the previous evening through 7:00 p.m. ET, but your bank’s customer-facing cutoff is hours earlier.⁷ Bank of America cuts off consumer wires at 5:00 p.m. ET.⁴

If closing is scheduled for the morning and you wait until closing day to wire, you are gambling on same-day processing. Experienced closing agents suggest sending the funds one to two business days ahead. The few hours of interest you give up by sending early cost far less than a delayed closing.

Confirming the Money Arrived

As soon as your bank processes the wire, ask for a Federal Reference Number or IMAD (Input Message Accountability Data) transaction code. This alphanumeric string lets the receiving institution trace the funds through Fedwire.⁸ Send it to your escrow officer so they can locate the incoming deposit without waiting for it to post on its own.

Once the escrow company confirms the funds have cleared, the officer issues a receipt or an updated settlement statement showing the received balance. Keep it with your closing documents. If you do not have confirmation within a few hours of sending a domestic wire, call your escrow officer and your bank. Do not wait and hope.

If the Wire Goes to the Wrong Account

Act within minutes, not hours. Call your bank and ask them to initiate a wire recall. Call the receiving bank and demand a fraud freeze on the account that got the funds. Once a wire settles, the sending bank has no automatic right to pull the money back, and recovery depends on whether the money is still sitting in the recipient’s account.⁹

File a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. The FBI works with financial institutions to freeze and recover funds from fraudulent accounts, but the window shrinks by the hour.² If your contract has a “time is of the essence” closing date and the misdirection makes you miss it, you can forfeit your earnest money on top of the stolen funds. This is why the verification call before you send matters more than any other step in the process.

Cashier’s Checks and What Not to Use

A wire is not the only option for smaller amounts. A cashier’s check typically costs $10 to $20. The tradeoff is speed: once the closing agent receives it, their bank may take up to three business days to verify the funds, which can delay closing if timing is tight. Many closing agents cap cashier’s checks at $10,000 due to rising check fraud and require a wire for anything above that. Ask your escrow officer before ordering one.

Avoid ACH transfers. Most title companies do not accept Automated Clearing House payments. If you accidentally select ACH instead of a wire through your bank’s portal, the funds take several days to arrive, the title company rejects the payment, and the round trip can eat a full week and put your closing date at risk.

Sending From Outside the United States

International buyers need the receiving bank’s SWIFT/BIC code, an 8- or 11-character identifier used for cross-border transfers, in addition to the standard routing and account numbers. Your escrow officer should include it on the wire instructions. Many countries also require you to state a purpose of payment on the transfer.

International wires typically take one to three business days because they route through intermediary banks. Each intermediary may deduct a processing fee, and currency conversion adds another layer of cost, so the escrow company may receive less than you sent. Ask your bank to send the transfer with fees charged to the sender (often labeled “OUR” in SWIFT terminology) so deductions do not reduce the amount that arrives. International wire fees at major U.S. banks run around $45 or more.⁴ Wire three to five business days before closing to leave room for delays.

1
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. 2024 IC3 Annual Report
2
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Mortgage Closing Scams – How to Protect Yourself and Your Closing Funds
3
American Bankers Association. ABA Routing Number
4
Bank of America. Online Banking Service Agreement
5
Wells Fargo. Digital Wires FAQs
6
J.P. Morgan. How Wire Transfers Work and When to Use Them
7
Federal Reserve Financial Services. Wholesale Services Operating Hours
8
Federal Reserve Board. Fedwire Funds Services – Data and Additional Information
9
Cornell Law Institute. UCC – Article 4A – Funds Transfer (2012)