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Something already happened

I wired money to a scammer.

Short answer

What to do right now

Contact the bank or wire-transfer company immediately. Report the fraud accurately and ask what action is possible; recovery is not guaranteed, but a prompt request is worth making.

Immediate actions

Ask the sending institution what is still possible.

  1. Contact the bank or wire-transfer company immediately through its official route.

  2. Report the fraud and describe accurately how the transfer was made.

  3. Ask what action is possible for the transfer.

  4. For internet-enabled crime, report at IC3.gov with transaction details; also report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Do not

Avoid making the situation harder.

  • Do not send another payment to release, tax, insure, or recover the wire.
  • Do not assume recovery is guaranteed—or that asking is pointless.

Records and reporting

Keep the details you already have.

Keep the receipt, confirmation, destination, dates, amounts, messages, and institution case numbers.

If something else happened too

Source notes

Official guidance behind these steps

Plainly Living uses the scope and exceptions recorded in its claim-control ledger. These links go to the responsible public agency.