Consumer complaint received 2023-05-27
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: PA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2022 around XXXX I received a text message from what appeared to be from my bank ( Citi Bank ) asking if the charges were mine, they were from an XXXX XXXX in Fl XXXX I texted back NO and then received another text saying the fraud dept would contact me shortly. Within 1 min my phone rang and the number was spoofed to my banks phone number. I didn't give any personal info, the rep sent me a code via text like they usually do when this happens and I read it back to him & then he started to go over my last few transactions, while he was doing this I received another text saying I was XXXX   {$2400.00} to someone I didn't know so I told the rep on the phone and he said yes he could see it as well and if we moved quickly he could reverse it. He then instructed me to go into my XXXX  and he put a contact in my account that had my name on it and told me I would be XXXX  the money to myself and then he would reverse it and put it back into my account. I followed the instructions and did what he told me to do, he then said I didn't do it correctly and instructed me to do it again which then added up to {$4900.00}. I then clicked back onto my mobile bank app and that's when I discovered not only did the {$4900.00} came out, but now there was another bank account linked to mine and another {$5000.00} was taken from me so I got nervous and hung up and immediately called my bank and they told me I was scammed! Also during this time I received an email from my bank that someone had just tried taking out a personal loan in my name and an email from XXXX XXXX that someone tried taking out a {$300000.00} mortgage in my name as well. I reported all of this to my bank, the police, the XXXX, my credit bureau, and also filed a report to XXXX. My bank had to set me up with a whole new bank account, & new debit card. I filed a fraud complaint with my bank, and a dispute with my bank for the XXXX  transaction. I did receive the {$5000.00} back for the fraudulent account that was linked to my account and they did give me back the {$4900.00} while they did their investigation with XXXX. 2 months later around XX/XX/XXXX, I saw my bank then took the {$4900.00} out of my account so I called them and the person from the fraud department told me it was mistake and it was because two claims for the same transaction were done and I would get that money back in 2-3 days. After 5 days of not recieving the money I called again and was told no thats wrong, the claim was declined because the transaction came from my device. I told them yes it did but I was under the impression i was speaking to a Citi bank rep and he instructed me to do those steps in order to get my money back and my identity was stolen and how could they approve one of the claims and not both when there is clearly so much evidence of my identity stolen and my account was hacked! This all happened on the same day at the same time frame by the same person! So they told me to appeal it and send all the information again!! I sent everything, called back numerous times, each time I would call, someone would give me different information and finally I spoke to a supervisor who then filed an identity theft claim along with the information I submitted and a complaint against the reps who told me false information. I waited another two weeks or so, called back again and was declined AGAIN! I even called back a few weeks ago and asked why am I not being protected under the regulation E act, and was told due to me checking the box that agrees to the terms and conditions of XXXX, I was not entitled to any of my money back and there is nothing they can do for me. This is a lot of money taken, I'm a single mom who works very hard for my income and this has put such a damper on my finances and I'm reading all over the internet that banks are doing this to so many people when indeed they are responsible for refunding that money back.

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