Consumer complaint received 2024-02-03
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: OH
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
I am appointed by Probate Court as administrator for the estate of my brother who died on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  He had been XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and we are now aware that fraudulent activity repeatedly occurred in his financial matters in the years leading up to his death with known multiple credit cards used improperly and subsequently closed. He was unable to monitor or protect his information from XXXX XXXX XXXX and an acquaintance in his home who obtained access to his accounts.

After I was made administrator of his estate, I obtained access to records in his home and found evidence of fraudulent activity in various financial accounts. I later received letters from a debt collector for a Citi Simplicity card which they said belonged to my brother with a balance of {$4800.00}. There is no record of this credit card in my brother 's records. 

I have asked Citi and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( the debt collector ) for descriptions of the alleged transaction charges on this account to try and verify whether these charges would be consistent with purchases my brother would have made. The only " evidence '' provided are credit card statements which they say were sent to his address with the earliest said to be for the billing period of XX/XX/XXXX onwards ( after his death ). These statements show a prior balance for purchases made but no transaction history or description of what was bought. None of them show any charges I can evaluate, just a prior hefty balance with no way to assess when these were made, what was allegedly purchased ( since apparently all the charges occurred prior to the statements that have been made available for me to review and after his death ), or any other means to assess whether fraud occurred ( statements sent to alternate address, paperless statements, or other means to minimize chance for detection by my brother since there were no evidence of this card in any records ). 

XXXX. My brother died from 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 XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. This card was reported to have been opened in XXXX of XXXX. My brother was largely at the mercy of his XXXX XXXX XXXX during this time period especially in terms of his finances, and fraudulent activity occurred on multiple accounts. 

2. From XXXX through his death, several other credit card accounts had to be closed or re-issued due to fraudulent charges on other credit cards that we know of.

3. I have looked through his paper records in depth. He had several credit cards which he usually paid off or kept the balance very low. There are no paper records of this credit card account in his files, and no paper statements of this credit card account in his files. 

4. I have so far not found any payments for this credit card account issued from his checking or savings accounts. However, the last payment on the account was reported to be on XX/XX/XXXX ( after my brother 's death ) and we have no record of where this payment was made from ( apparently not from his checking or savings accounts ). 

I have asked Citi Simplicity to provide all of the records regarding this credit card account, so that I can see what purchases were made and whether they appear to be fraudulent based on the nature of the purchases ( since my brother needed/ purchased largely basic items pertinent to his needs ). Citi has not provided this information and all I have to assess are the credit card statements from billing period of XX/XX/XXXX onwards ( which I have referenced as insufficient above since I can't assess anything about the supposed purchases or billing details ) and these covered a period of time after his death. 

All the information I have so far is concerning to be due to fraudulent charges, which I have communicated to Citi and XXXX XXXX XXXX but they have not provided the requested information ( although they have said they will provide but always give me the same few statements without needed details ).

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