# Payment red-flag check before you wire money

> Tick the warning signs that apply to a payment, from pressure to pay now to changed bank details, and see a risk meter based on the FTC's wiring advice.

- Canonical URL: https://swiftcodelookup.com/payment-red-flag-check/
- Source: [US Federal Trade Commission, What To Know Before You Wire Money](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-you-wire-money)
- Checked: 2026-10-24

This page includes a free interactive tool that runs in the browser and sends no data. The figures and rules it uses are the ones stated on this page, with their sources.

## A correct code is not a safe payment

People often look up a SWIFT code because someone asked them to send money. The code can be perfectly valid and the payment still a scam. The FTC says that once a wire is sent you usually cannot get the money back and that wires lack the dispute protections of card payments ([FTC](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-you-wire-money)).

## The signs in the check

From the FTC page: a caller claiming to be a government agency or a well-known company, pressure to pay immediately, being told a wire is the only way, a telemarketer asking for a wire, paying someone you have never met, fees to receive a prize or a check, and a frantic call from a relative ([FTC](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-you-wire-money)). We add one business check: bank details that changed by email or message.

## How the meter works

Each sign carries a weight, higher for the strongest signs. No ticks means no listed red flag; a few means check before paying; more means stop. The weights are ours, not the FTC's.

## If you already paid

The FTC says to contact the wire service or your bank immediately, report the transfer as fraud, ask for a reversal and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov ([FTC](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-you-wire-money)). Speed matters. See also [wire transfer scams](https://swiftcodelookup.com/wire-transfer-scams/).

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