How to Check a Wire Transfer Request Before Sending Money
Wire transfers move money quickly and are often permanent. Scammers know this. Business Email Compromise (BEC) — where criminals impersonate a vendor, executive, or bank to redirect wire payments — costs individuals and businesses billions each year. If you have received a wire transfer request and something feels off, pause before you send.
Risk Signals to Look For
- !The request asks you to use new or updated bank account details that are different from what you have paid before — even if it appears to come from a known contact.
- !The instructions include unusual urgency: "transfer must be completed today," "time-sensitive," or warnings of account closure if you do not act immediately.
- !The sender's email address looks similar to a known contact but has a subtle difference — an extra letter, a different domain suffix, or a slightly misspelled name.
- !The instructions tell you not to discuss the transfer with your bank, or warn that your bank may flag it "unnecessarily."
- !The beneficiary bank account is in a different country from the company you believe you are paying, or the account name does not match the company name.
If you were told to keep the transfer secret
Instructions to keep a wire transfer secret from your bank are a major scam warning sign. Do not send the wire transfer. Contact your bank directly using a number from your bank card, statement, or official website.
Steps to Verify Before Wiring
- 1Call using a number you already have: Do not use any contact details in the wire request. Call the company or person using a phone number you already have on file or that you find on their official website — not the number in the email or document.
- 2Ask for verbal confirmation: Ask someone at the company to confirm the wire details verbally, and request written confirmation through a second channel you have used before — such as a prior email thread or a known colleague's address.
- 3Compare against prior payment instructions: Check the routing and account numbers against previous invoices or payment instructions from the same company. Any unexplained change to payment details is a verification gap.
- 4Check the email address character by character: Look for subtle substitutions — a zero instead of the letter O, a hyphen added, or a domain like "company-accounts.com" instead of "company.com." These are a common method used in BEC fraud.
- 5Follow your organization's wire authorization procedures: If the request came through your employer, check internal wire authorization policies before acting. Many organizations require dual approval for wire transfers above a certain amount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a wire transfer be reversed if I realize it was a scam?
In most cases, wire transfers cannot be reversed once they have been processed. If you suspect you have wired money to a scammer, contact your bank immediately — do not wait — and also report it to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Acting within hours gives you the best chance of any recovery, though recovery cannot be guaranteed.
What is Business Email Compromise (BEC)?
Business Email Compromise is a type of fraud in which a scammer impersonates a legitimate business email account — a vendor, executive, or supplier — to redirect a wire payment. The emails look convincing and often appear to come from a known contact. The FBI has identified BEC as one of the most financially damaging cybercrime types. Always verify any wire request by calling the company using a number you find independently.
Why do scammers tell me not to tell my bank about the transfer?
Instructions to conceal the purpose of a wire transfer, or to avoid discussing it with your bank, may be a risk signal. Banks have anti-fraud procedures, and legitimate payment requests from real companies will not ask you to work around those safeguards. If a wire request comes with instructions to keep it confidential or to describe it differently to your bank, treat that as a verification gap worth investigating before you act.
How can VerifyBefore help with a wire transfer request?
If you received a document related to a wire transfer — such as a letter, invoice, or contract — you can upload it to VerifyBefore. The review will identify risk signals such as unverifiable company details, urgency language, and suspicious payment instructions, and give you a plain-English summary of what to check before you act.
Received a Wire Transfer Request You're Not Sure About?
Upload the document to VerifyBefore. We'll check for risk signals and verification gaps — free, before you send any money.
Check a Document FreeDisclaimer: VerifyBefore identifies risk signals and verification gaps in documents and messages. It does not prove fraud, verify document authenticity, or confirm whether a company is legitimate. It is not legal, financial, or professional advice. Always contact official sources and speak with someone you trust before taking action.