Wise Payments review: International money transfer / wire transfer service

Between January 2025 and January 2026, I was manipulated through a romance scam ("pig butchering") into making 8 international wire transfers totaling £53,595.59 GBP (~$67,000 USD) through Wise's platform. All transfers went to the same ABSA Bank Kenya account over 12 months. Wise failed to flag a single transaction despite clear patterns of repeated high-value transfers to a high-risk jurisdiction — violating their own anti-money laundering obligations.
When I reported the fraud on April 5, 2025, Wise took 23 days to initiate a recall (April 28) — exceeding the 10-business-day requirement under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. In their May 4, 2026 Final Response, Wise admitted I am a "victim of a scam" yet denied liability. In their CFPB response, Wise admitted they have the capability to "pause transfers before leaving the system" but never intervened.
The funds were converted to Bitcoin and routed through wallet 37fmj4iG1fpbozarbpdCvawmMTAm91AaqX, which has processed over $372 million in total volume across 215 transactions — indicating a large-scale criminal operation affecting hundreds of victims.
Wise should issue a full refund of £53,595.59 GBP plus interest, compensate for distress, and improve their fraud detection systems to prevent future victims from experiencing the same failures.