How does one trace an incoming wire transfer. To know who send it (name) and where it came from (city, country, etc).

Thanks in advance!

First, let me point you to http://www.bankersonline.com, which is where you as a banker should post questions and look for thousands and thousands of pages of material.

Wire transfer instructions provide information on the origins of the transfer. The sending bank is identified. Its customer is usually identified, as well. If you need the full name and location of the sending bank, you can use the Federal Reserve Banks' Directory service at http://www.fededirectory.frb.org/ to translate the bank short name or bank routing number into the information you need.

I was expecting a wire transfer and I checked with my bank to see if it went through and they told me no and to get a tracer number so they could check on it. So I went to try and get the tracer number and the other bank told me that the tracer number was being with held by a certain gorvernment until I pay a fee of $1200.00 for transfer fees. Does this sound right to you for them to be trying to make me pay for this tracer number. My bank told me that there has been no indication that there was even a transfer being made. Any kind of help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you and have a nice day.Pedro Reyna

The situation you have described sounds exactly like a Nigerian 419 scam and could cost you (the intended victim) several thousand dollars until you wise up to the fact that the money is not coming.

Whether they told you that a rich relative died, or that some rich person you've never heard of who happens to share a last name with you died, or they're a political refuge trying to smuggle money out of their country and desperately need your help, or they want to start an orphanage in your country but need a place to send the money...whatever the cover story, you'll never see that transfer. A good rule of thumb, never pay money to receive money, and if it sounds to good to be true, it is.

How is a tracer number on a wire transfer obtained?

The bank originating the wire transfer would receive a tracer number from their coorpondant bank (the next bank in line the moves the funds along.) For example, in the US this is often the Federal Reseve Bank. The sender of the wire could obtain a tracer number simply by going to the bank from where they originated the wire.

There is no "government agency" that handles the processing of wire transfers or the assigning of tracer numbers.

If you were expecting the wire and it was "free money" or some funds you would send elsewhere, etc. - THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Run, don't walk away, run. These scams cost consumers millions every year.

One party wired an amount via MT103 from a German Bank to an account in a bank in Dubai. The routing bank was JP Morgan Chase. Last 3 months the fund was not creditted to the beneficiey's account. Receiving bank says they did not received any such transfer instruction and they did not received any such funds. Finally the receiving bank asked the beneficiery to instruct the Sender Bank to send the TRACER via SWIFT.

What is the TRACER and how it look likes? Is it a report?

I've not seen a tracer nor do I know if the bank would show it to you. In that you're not in the US, we suggest you work with and through your bank.