If you just wired money to a scammer, call your bank’s fraud department right now and ask for an immediate wire recall — every minute matters, because once the receiving bank releases the funds to the scammer, getting them back becomes extremely difficult. In 2024, the FBI’s Recovery Asset Team froze funds in about 66 percent of cases where victims reported quickly, and that success rate falls sharply with each passing hour.1Internet Crime Complaint Center. 2024 IC3 Annual Report
Call the Bank or Transfer Service First
Contact the fraud department at the bank or service you used, not general customer service. Ask specifically for the wire fraud or wire recall team. If you sent a bank wire through Fedwire or SWIFT, tell the representative you need an immediate wire recall. If you used Western Union, call their fraud hotline at +1 (720) 945-9351 and have your Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) from your receipt or confirmation email.2Western Union. File a Fraud Claim
Before you dial, pull the transaction details together. You need the reference number, exact dollar amount, date and time, the recipient’s name, and the receiving bank’s name and routing number. Having those ready keeps the fraud team from stalling while they hunt for the transaction.
Your bank may charge a recall fee, typically $25 to $35, though some waive it for fraud cases. Ask for a case reference number and write it down. You will use it for every follow-up call.
How the Wire Recall Works — and Why Hours Matter
When you request a recall, your bank sends a formal cancellation message to the receiving bank asking it to freeze and return the funds. The receiving bank then checks whether the money is still sitting in the recipient’s account.
Under the law governing wire transfers, a sender can cancel a payment order only if the cancellation reaches the receiving bank before that bank accepts and executes the order. Once the receiving bank has accepted the payment, cancellation requires the receiving bank’s agreement. If the scammer has already withdrawn or moved the funds, there is nothing left to return.
Even a successful recall is not instant. Expect days or weeks for the receiving bank to investigate and respond. Your bank’s fraud department should update you through secure messaging or by mail. If you have not heard back within a few business days, call and reference your case number. Recall requests can stall in internal queues when nobody pushes.
File a Complaint With the FBI’s IC3
While your bank works on the recall, file a complaint at ic3.gov, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.3Federal Bureau of Investigation. Common Frauds and Scams This is not a formality. IC3 runs a Recovery Asset Team that works directly with banks to freeze stolen funds through what the FBI calls the Financial Fraud Kill Chain. In 2024, the team used this process in over 3,000 cases involving $848 million in attempted theft and successfully froze roughly $562 million across domestic and international accounts.1Internet Crime Complaint Center. 2024 IC3 Annual Report
The form asks for your contact information, the total loss, individual transaction details with dates and amounts, and a description of how the scammer contacted and tricked you. You can add identifying details about the scammer: names, email addresses, phone numbers, website URLs. A narrative field takes up to 3,500 characters.4Internet Crime Complaint Center. Complaint Form – Internet Crime Complaint Center
After you submit, IC3 may refer your complaint to federal, state, local, or international law enforcement.5Internet Crime Complaint Center. Home Page – Internet Crime Complaint Center IC3 states it will not contact you after submission; whether to investigate is up to the receiving agency. Save the confirmation information — you will need it for follow-up and for other agencies.
Build the Paper Trail: FTC, State AG, and Police
File a separate report with the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC does not investigate individual cases, but your report enters Consumer Sentinel, a database used by law enforcement to spot patterns and build cases against criminal networks.6Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov
File a complaint with your state attorney general’s office as well. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau specifically recommends contacting your state attorney general when you have been the victim of a financial scam, and links to each state’s office through the National Association of Attorneys General.7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint Some state offices have dedicated fraud units.
Also file a police report with your local department.8USAGov. Report a Crime Many banks require a police report number before advancing a fraud investigation or issuing any reimbursement. Bring your organized documentation — the transaction details, the bank’s case number, and your IC3 or FTC complaint numbers — and give the officer a written timeline. Ask for a copy of the signed report or a formal case number before you leave. If the department is reluctant because the scammer is out of state or out of the country, ask for a detective who handles financial crimes.
Why Wire Transfers Have Weak Consumer Protection
Wire transfers fall into a gap in consumer protection law, and it helps to know that going in. When someone makes an unauthorized charge on your debit card or a fraudulent ACH withdrawal from your checking account, federal law caps your liability at $50 if you report within two business days. That protection comes from the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, which excludes wire transfers made through systems like Fedwire and SWIFT from its definition of “electronic fund transfer.”9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1693a – Definitions
Wires are governed instead by Uniform Commercial Code Article 4A, which places the loss on the customer rather than the bank, provided the bank followed commercially reasonable security procedures. Because you authorized the wire yourself, even under a scammer’s manipulation, the bank generally has no legal obligation to refund the money. That is why recovery depends almost entirely on catching the funds before the receiving bank releases them, not on any right to a refund.
Claiming a Theft Loss on Your Taxes
If you cannot recover the money, you may be able to deduct the loss on your federal income tax return. IRS Publication 547 allows victims of financial scams to claim a theft loss deduction under Section 165 of the Internal Revenue Code when three conditions are met: the loss resulted from conduct that qualifies as theft under your state’s criminal law, you have no reasonable prospect of recovering the funds, and the loss arose from a transaction entered into for profit.10Internal Revenue Service. Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts
The “entered into for profit” requirement is the threshold. If you wired money as part of a fraudulent investment, a fake business deal, or any scheme that promised financial returns, the loss likely qualifies. If you wired money for a personal reason such as a romance scam with no promise of financial return, the deduction may not apply, because the general rule since 2018 limits personal-use casualty and theft losses to federally declared disasters. The IRS notes that losses from financial scams are treated as losses on income-producing property and are not subject to that personal-use limitation, and points to advice memorandum 202511015 for additional guidance.10Internal Revenue Service. Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts A tax professional can tell you whether your specific facts qualify.
Watch for Recovery Scams Next
Once you have lost money, you become a target for a second wave. Scammers buy lists of previous victims and contact them by phone, email, text, or social media, claiming they can recover the stolen funds. They pose as government agencies, law firms, or consumer advocacy groups, and they ask for an upfront fee — a “processing fee,” “retainer,” or “administrative charge” — before starting work.11Consumer Advice (FTC). Refund and Recovery Scams
Any request for payment is the giveaway. Government agencies will never charge you a fee to help recover stolen money, and they will never ask for your bank account number or Social Security number over the phone or by email. If someone contacts you unsolicited claiming to hold recovered funds or offering to put your name at the top of a reimbursement list, that person is running a recovery scam. Hang up, delete the message, and report the contact at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.