Wire Transfers are one of the fastest and most efficient ways of transmitting funds, and it is also the most final method of transmitting funds. This means once a wire is sent, the recipient of the funds is guaranteed the funds they received are final in most cases.

Is this good, or bad?

Good - If you are the recipient of the wired funds because wired funds are pretty much guaranteed and are generally made available to you within one business day.

Bad – As an example, if someone (or business) you normally wire funds to informs you that they have moved their account to a different bank account, you wire funds to that account, and the real person (or business) later informs you that their email was hacked—you wired funds to a fraudulent account. The wired funds are more than likely a loss.

Although the bank can try to help you get the funds back, if the fraudster has already withdrawn the funds from the account you wired to, there is no way to recover the funds. (Remember: Banks generally make wired funds available within one business day. The fraudsters may know this and monitor the fraudulent account to know when funds have been credited.)

Does wire fraud only happen by email?

No. Fraudulent wire scams can happen in many ways including by fax, text, or social media.

What can you do to protect yourself?

Call the person/business who instructed you to send the funds to a different bank account at a phone number you already have in your records (not a phone number in the email, fax, text, etc.) to confirm they really sent the request.

A phone call may take a few minutes, but it will save you the nightmare of trying to get your funds back, not to mention the funds you may never be able to recover.