Set a call-back rule before any wire transfer
Published Nov 14, 2026 · Last checked Nov 14, 2026 · Last changed Nov 14, 2026Write one rule this week. Nobody sends a wire on a request from a call, a video or an email until a second person calls back a known number.
- Verdict
- ACT
- For
- Any business that sends wire transfers. All sizes. Owner, finance lead or office manager.
- Cost and time
- No cost. One hour to write the rule, and 15 minutes to tell the team.
Why
Federal prosecutors in New York unsealed an indictment on Nov 5, 2026. It charges three men with wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering. Prosecutors say the group stole about $129 million from businesses. The Associated Press reports that the group used AI to mimic the voice, and sometimes the image, of the chief executive. Trade press reports the steps. The group picked an accounting employee who could approve large wires. A fake chief executive called about a secret deal. A fake lawyer then pressed for secrecy and gave the wire details. These are charges, and the men are presumed innocent.
What to do
- List every person who can send or approve a wire transfer.
- Write the rule: a second person must approve every wire to a new payee.
- Add that the approver calls the requester back on a number already on file, never a number from the request.
- Add that a request for secrecy stops the payment until the owner confirms it in person or on a known number.
- Ask your bank to require two approvals for wires above an amount you choose.
- Tell all staff that a voice or a face on a call is no longer proof of who is speaking.
- Run one test next month with a made-up urgent request, and see whether the rule holds.
What data may go in
No AI tool is needed for this, and no company data goes into one.
Who checks the output
The second approver checks each wire. The owner reviews the list of approvers twice a year.
The rule to check
Your bank agreement says who bears the loss on a wire that your own staff approved. Read that part, and ask your bank and your insurance agent what your policy covers.
What can go wrong
The rule fails when the owner is the one in a hurry and tells staff to skip it. Make it apply to the owner too.
Sources
- Associated Press, published by KSAT, news report, Nov 6, 2026.
- Biometric Update, trade publication, Nov 8, 2026.
- The Justice Department's release did not open at the time of writing. The facts come from news reports of the indictment.