What to do if…
your bank blocks a payment because the payee details appear to have changed

What to do now

1. Stop the payment attempt. Keep the bank’s block in place until the recipient details are verified.
2. Record what the bank showed you. Write down or screenshot the warning, amount, recipient name, routing number, account number, payment type, date, and time.
3. Check your saved payees. Look for new payees, changed routing numbers, changed account numbers, or edits you did not make.
4. Check account access signs your bank shows. If your bank shows recent sign-ins, devices, profile changes, or payee changes, report anything unfamiliar to the bank immediately.
5. Verify the recipient through a separate trusted route. Use an old invoice, signed contract, known contact, or the organization’s official website. Do not use the phone number or link from the message that gave you the new details.
6. Ask the recipient to confirm the change safely. Ask whether their payment details recently changed and whether the details you have match what they expect. Compare only the minimum fields needed, such as the recipient name and last few account digits, without resending full details unnecessarily.
7. For a business, invoice, rent, closing, or vendor payment, use a call-back rule. A known person should call a known number to confirm any change before money is sent.
8. Call your bank through a trusted route. Ask: “Which recipient field changed, when was it changed, and what verification do you need before this payment can be released safely?”
9. Name the risk clearly. Tell the bank you are concerned about an invoice redirection scam or business email compromise and you do not want the payment released until the details are verified.
10. If you must pay today, do not use the changed details yet. Ask the recipient for a brief extension, or use only an official payment portal, address, or phone number you independently found and verified.
11. Secure the accounts involved. If anything looks unfamiliar, change your banking password through the official site or app, secure the email account used for invoices or financial messages, and turn on multi-factor authentication where available. Ask the bank whether access should be locked, credentials reset, or payee changes reviewed.
12. If money already left, contact your bank immediately. Ask whether a wire recall, stop payment, reversal, receiving-bank contact, or payment-app dispute is possible. Wires, ACH payments, cards, and payment apps have different rules, and timing matters.
13. If you did not authorize the transfer or payee change, say that exactly. Ask the bank whether this is handled under Regulation E or another error-resolution process, and write down who you spoke to, the date, the time, and what they told you.
14. If this appears to be an online scam or email compromise, report it through official sites only. Use the FTC or FBI IC3 resources below; type the address yourself or use a saved trusted source rather than a link sent by the suspected scammer.