Consumer complaint received 2022-11-08
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: PA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Citibank Attention : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  I am writing to dispute the following transacations listed below as they were un-authorized XXXX transfers done under they by deception and identity theft. 

This letter is regarding the following transactions : Date : XX/XX/2022 Amount : {$2400.00} Account Ending : XXXX Date : XX/XX/2022 Amount : {$1600.00} Account Ending : unknown Date : XX/XX/2022 Amount : {$4900.00} Account Ending : XXXX These are the claims I have made with Citi bank that were denied due to : insufficient information to claim that they were unauthorized : XXXX claim numbers : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX claim numbers : XXXX XXXX XXXX Along with filing dispute claims with Citibank, I have also made the following legal/ police reports : Police Report Date : XX/XX/2022 Police Report Number : XXXX Location : XXXX, Pennsylvania Federal Trade Commission on XX/XX/2022. That claim number is : XXXX. 
FBI report on XX/XX/2022 Explanation of items being disputed : On XX/XX/2022 I received a call from a fraudster claiming to be a Citibank agent. He explained that he belonged to Citibanks fraud department. He told me to check my account because there was a fraudulent transaction made on XX/XX/2022. He asked me to confirm my identity in the same way that Citi has done in the past. I received a text message from XXXX stating that a purchase of {$240.00} was made at XXXX, a transaction I did not do. My intention was to sort it out in person. However, there is no Citibank branch in XXXX. The fraudster called me back and I told him to wait. I XXXX the phone number he was calling me from XXXX to make sure it was a Citibank number. The XXXX search confirmed Citibank as a source and was even linked to a Citibank website. The fraudster, impostering as a Citibank employee, told me that someone had tried to make XXXX XXXX transactions through my account and that the person making the claims had gotten access to my online banking. He told me to respond No to the text message that he had sent me. He then told me to confirm my identity by telling me the code that was sent to my phone ( which by the way, is the same procedure followed by the bank ). The fraudster had all my information including current and previous addresses, which completely deceived me. The fraudster had changed my online banking password and gave it to me to log back into the app. He informed me that for security purposes, they would cancel my checking account and open a new checking account. In order to re-issue the money he would send me through text message the secure emails to reissue the money. The email was XXXX and XXXX. I originally had only one checking account open XXXX with barely any money and a savings account that had XXXX. He convinced me that XXXX overdrafts and could be taken from my savings. He said that he had to transfer money into the three checking accounts from my savings accounts. I did not open these two checking accounts on XX/XX/2022 and I did not transfer the funds from my savings account to these two checking accounts. ( Please note : only know that one of the two checking accounts opened illegally ends in XXXX or I would have added the numbers here ). Through changing my password, the fraudster moved money from my savings account, opened two checking accounts, and attempted to take out a loan. When the fraudster gave me access to my accounts, I was induced into sending the money to these emails via XXXX. I believed that XXXX was a Citibank transfer service as it exists within my Citibank Mobile app. When the XXXX transactions were done, he told me in XXXX hours my account would be back to normal and all the funds would look as I had intended, having my {$9500.00} in my savings and my {$300.00} in my checking account and that a debit card would arrive in 1 business day. At that point he hung up. I looked at the phone to a number of emails of XXXX transactions to someone named XXXX XXXX, someone I do not know, I see an email from citibank stating that a premium checking account was opened, and I see that a loan # XXXX was also opened under my name. I called Citibank immediately and found out they had not called me. I filed a dispute for all transactions, including, the XXXX XXXX charge that was made on XX/XX/2022, the XXXX checking accounts under my name that I did not authorize, and the loan that was taken out under my name. 

Case Overview : 1 fraudulent charge on my debit card XXXX checking accounts open under my name without authorization from fraudster Moving of my money without consent from my savings account to the checking accounts the fraudsters had opened XXXX unauthorized transactions using XXXX initiated by fraudster. 
XXXX loan opened under my name by the fraudster. 

Regulation E : Electronic Transfer Funds 12 cfr 205 : While the claims I made on XX/XX/2022 and XX/XX/2022 were denied. My goal after this letter and my police report that my claim is approved and my funds are reimbursed by Citibank. Under Regulation E : Electronic Transfer Funds 12 cfr 205 that states : A consumer who is fraudulently induced into providing account information has not furnished an access device under Regulation E. As explained above in Electronic Fund Transfers Error Resolution : Unauthorized EFTs 3, 4, and 5, EFTs initiated using account access information obtained through fraud or robbery fall within the Regulation E definition of unauthorized EFT. See Comment 1005.2 ( m ) -3 Please review with the Consumer Financial Bureou the rights I have as a consumer of Citibanks services. More inforamtion on Regulation E can be found here : https : //files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfbp_electronic-fund-transfers-faqs.pdf Questions and concerns : I was recently notified that Citibank has investigated the loan application that was made by the fraudsters was deemed taken without my permission. If the loan that was taken under my name from the fraudsters are the same people who initiated a transfer using XXXX how come my claims x, z, and z was deemed non fraudulent? 
On XX/XX/2022 I was contacted by XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX, as people calling from Citibank Fraud Protection. I no longer pick up phone numbers I do not know. By the second phone call they left me a voicemail. I blocked the number. 

It hurts to realize that the hard money Ive earned and saved to be used to pay my studies was swindled out of me from people impersonating Citibank employees as well as using the XXXX XXXX through the Citibank portal. I trusted that Citibank would protect me and insure me in cases against fraudulent transactions, theft by deception, and account access theft. 

Thank you for your assistance, XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation