You sent the payment, and the account turns out not to be the real one.
The email looked like the usual one, the invoice matched a real job, and the payment went out the way a hundred others have. Then a call or a bounced reply shows the instructions came from someone else.
What you do next depends on how the money was sent, and the call to the bank comes before any investigation. Banks and the FBI can act only on a transfer they hear about.
Who to call first depends on how it was sent
The FTC’s guidance for people who paid a scammer lists a first call for each payment type, and it says to make each one immediately:
- Bank transfer: your bank or credit union. Ask them to reverse the payment and give your money back.
- Wire transfer company: the company that moved it. Tell them a scammer tricked you into sending money, and ask for a refund.
- Gift cards: the card’s issuer, at the number on the back of the card. Say that a scammer got the card number and PIN by deception. Keep the card and any receipt, because you may need them for the claim.
- Cryptocurrency: the exchange or ATM operator. Tell them it was a fraudulent transaction and ask for a reversal. The FTC cautions that cryptocurrency payments don’t carry the same legal protections as credit and debit cards, so recovery can be difficult.
For a business wire or transfer: ask for a recall
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) says that when a fraudulent transfer is discovered, time is of the essence. It tells victims to contact their financial institution immediately and request a recall of the funds, along with any necessary indemnification documents. It also notes that financial institutions have varying policies, so ask your bank what it needs from you and what form it uses.
Have these in front of you when you call: the amount, the date and time of the transfer, the account and bank the money went to (from the instructions you were given), and the email or document that contained those instructions.
File two reports
- File a complaint at ic3.gov. The IC3 says to file regardless of the amount lost, as soon as possible, and that it may be able to assist financial institutions and law enforcement in freezing funds.
- File a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC says reports help it build cases and spot trends.
Keep the message that carried the instructions
Do not delete the email, the invoice attachment, or the thread. Forward the message to yourself as an attachment, which keeps its technical headers, and save the original.
If the instructions came from a message that looked like it came from a vendor or a coworker, the mailbox it passed through needs a look: forwarding, inbox rules, and sign-in history. The page on payment details that changed in an email covers how the swap usually happens, and the page on unexplained forwarding rules covers what to check.
Tell the person who was supposed to receive the real payment, by phone, using a number you already had. They may be waiting on money that never arrived, and their own mailbox may be the one that was used.
What to expect
The FTC states it plainly: your money might be gone already, and it is always worth asking about getting it back. Filing a report does not promise an investigation or a recovery, and neither the FTC nor the IC3 page says it does.
Call the bank with the transfer details in front of you and ask for the name of the person you spoke to and a reference number. If the first person cannot start a recall, ask for the fraud or wire department, since the FBI’s page notes that institutions differ in what they offer.
If personal or customer information was also involved, or a mailbox was opened by someone else, the question of who else to tell comes next. That page is linked below.
The one line to keep
The bank can ask for a transfer back only while it is still a recent transfer, so the call comes before everything else on this page.
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Written by Craig Peterson, 35+ years successfully running IT and security for businesses. Last reviewed October 27, 2026.