The Wire Couldn’t Be Recalled. Now What?

You've called your bank.

They tried to recall the wire.

It didn't work.

You've called the FBI.

You've filed with IC3.

And now you're staring at what may be hundreds of thousands of dollars missing from your bank account.

What now?

First, understand something extremely important:

A failed wire recall does not necessarily mean your money can never be recovered.

Sometimes it can't.

Sometimes it can.

Members of Viking Title's management team have personally dealt with one of these situations while working at a previous title company.

This incident did not happen at Viking.

And in that previous case, approximately $300,000 was ultimately recovered in full.

A Real Wire-Fraud Story

Years ago, a member of Viking's current management team was serving as president of another title company when a buyer was targeted in a sophisticated wire-fraud scheme.

The buyer was preparing to purchase a home.

The buyer was older, and English was not their first language.

The criminals created urgency.

The buyer was led to believe that the closing had suddenly been moved up and that approximately $300,000 needed to be wired immediately.

That's a major red flag.

But when someone is already navigating a complicated real estate transaction, particularly when English isn't their first language, an authoritative-looking message telling them that their closing depends on immediate action can be incredibly effective.

The buyer sent the wire.

The Fraud Wasn't Discovered Immediately

Approximately a day passed before the title company learned what had happened.

The sending financial institution was contacted and an attempt was made to recall the wire.

It was too late for an ordinary recall.

The money had already been moved from the receiving account.

That's what sophisticated criminals often try to do: move stolen funds quickly so recovery becomes substantially more difficult.

The immediate recall failed.

That could have been the end of the story.

It wasn't.

Something About the Wire Didn't Make Sense

Here's one of the more interesting things about this case.

The criminals hadn't necessarily changed everything.

The buyer believed they were wiring approximately $300,000 to the legitimate title company.

And the beneficiary name on the wire was the legitimate title company's name.

The banking information wasn't.

The title company's management contacted the financial institution that had received the fraudulent wire.

Naturally, the receiving bank couldn't simply disclose private information about an account belonging to someone else.

That was understood.

Management wasn't asking the bank to identify its customer.

Instead, a much simpler question was asked:

"Is our title company's name actually on the account that received this money?"

The answer was:

No.

And that was when another potential avenue for recovery became apparent.

Know Your Customer, and Know Who Received the Money

Banks operate under extensive identity-verification, anti-money-laundering and customer-identification requirements commonly associated with Know Your Customer, or KYC, practices.

Those requirements are designed, among other things, to help financial institutions understand and verify who their customers are.

In this particular case, that concept helped management focus on an important question:

Who actually owned the account that received money intended for the title company?

But KYC rules shouldn't be confused with the specific law governing what happens when the beneficiary name and account number on a wire identify different people.

That's a separate legal issue.

Beneficiary Names and Account Numbers Matter

Uniform Commercial Code Article 4A Section 4A-207 addresses situations in which a payment order identifies a beneficiary by both a name and an account number, but those identifiers point to different people.

The law is nuanced.

Depending on the circumstances, a beneficiary's bank may be permitted to rely on the account number when it does not know that the account number and beneficiary name identify different people.

So this is not a universal rule that says:

"The names didn't match, therefore the receiving bank automatically owes the victim the money."

That's not how it works.

Every case depends on its facts.

But when approximately $300,000 intended for one company is deposited into an account belonging to someone entirely different, the discrepancy can be extremely important.

In this case, it was.

The Investigation Continued

At that point, the immediate fraud response became a much longer investigation.

The questions changed.

• What exactly did the original payment order say?
• Who was identified as the beneficiary?
• What account actually received the money?
• When did each financial institution learn there was a problem?
• When did the funds leave the receiving account?
• What procedures were followed?
• What information was available?
• Were there discrepancies in the payment instructions?

Those aren't questions most homebuyers know to ask.

Frankly, they shouldn't be expected to.

That's where financial institutions, fraud departments, law enforcement, attorneys and other professionals may become necessary.

Then Came the Waiting

This is the brutal part nobody talks about.

The buyer didn't get the money back the next afternoon.

In this particular case, the investigation and recovery process took approximately 90 days.

The financial institutions involved indicated that the investigation could take roughly that amount of time.

That does not mean every bank has a universal 90-day deadline for every fraudulent wire investigation.

Different transfers, institutions, claims and legal circumstances can involve different timelines.

But for this family, it meant approximately three months of uncertainty.

And those weren't easy months.

Wire Fraud Isn't Just a Financial Crime

The buyer lost the home they intended to purchase because they could no longer fund the closing.

The real estate transaction fell apart.

But the consequences went far beyond losing a house.

The victim became extremely distressed after discovering what had happened.

That weekend, she suffered a fall.

She ultimately spent an extended period in the hospital.

This wasn't simply $300,000 moving from one bank account to another.

This was someone's savings.

Their home.

Their sense of security.

And, for a period of time, their health.

That's what gets lost when wire fraud is discussed merely as a cybersecurity statistic.

There are real people on the other side of these crimes.

Approximately 90 Days Later...

The investigation finally concluded.

And the money came back.

Every penny.

Approximately $300,000 was returned to the buyer.

They didn't get the home back.

They didn't get those months of stress back.

But they got their money back.

And that's why we're telling this story.

Funds Can Sometimes Be Recovered

There are no guarantees.

We cannot tell someone who has been the victim of wire fraud that their money will be recovered simply because this particular victim's money was.

But we can tell you this:

Don't automatically assume it's over because the first wire recall failed.

A recall is one mechanism.

An investigation into what happened is something different.

There may be questions involving the sending institution, receiving institution, beneficiary information, account ownership, payment order, timing, security procedures and other circumstances.

With a substantial loss, legal counsel experienced in banking, wire transfers or financial fraud may also be appropriate.

Don't Assume You Were Stupid

One of the worst things a fraud victim can do after discovering the loss is decide:

"I screwed up. It's my fault. The money is gone."

And then do nothing.

These criminals make their living manipulating people.

• They impersonate trusted companies.
• They copy email signatures.
• They alter domains by a single character.
• They manufacture urgency.
• They spoof telephone numbers.
• They exploit unfamiliarity with technology.

And they can target people they believe may have more difficulty recognizing subtle language or technology clues.

Falling for sophisticated fraud doesn't mean you should simply accept the loss.

A Failed Recall Means the Next Phase Begins

If the immediate recall doesn't work:

• Keep going.
• Ask questions.
• Document everything.
• Find out which financial institution received the money.
• Preserve the original payment order.
• Compare the legitimate and fraudulent instructions.
• Determine what beneficiary was named on the wire.
• Ask your financial institution what recovery procedures remain available.
• Continue working with law enforcement.

And with a substantial loss, consider consulting an attorney experienced in banking, funds transfers or financial fraud.

There may be no guarantee of recovery.

But:

"The wire couldn't be recalled" and "there is absolutely nothing else that can be done" are not necessarily the same thing.

We know because members of our management team have personally helped a victim through a case where the first recall failed and, approximately 90 days later, the victim recovered every penny.

The Best Recovery Strategy Is Still Prevention

That buyer ultimately had a good financial outcome.

But nobody would choose those 90 days.

Nobody would choose losing the home they intended to buy.

Nobody would choose the fear, stress and uncertainty that came with it.

That's why Viking Title is so serious about wire verification.

If someone changes your wiring instructions:

STOP. VERIFY. THEN WIRE.

If You've Already Sent a Fraudulent Wire

Don't give up simply because the first recall failed.

CALL YOUR BANK.

CALL THE FBI: 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324)

FILE AT: www.ic3.gov

Then keep asking questions.

Sometimes money really can be recovered.

This article is provided for general educational purposes and recounts a past real-world fraud incident involving members of Viking Title's management team while working at a previous title company. The incident did not occur at Viking Title. This information is not legal or financial advice and does not guarantee recovery in any case. Legal rights and responsibilities of financial institutions and consumers depend upon the particular facts, applicable law and type of funds transfer.