Consumer complaint received 2023-11-08
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email that said money would be charged to my XXXX account for a XXXX  purchase. I XXXX  the XXXX XXXX  customer service number and was fraudulently led to believe that the person I called was a XXXX representative who would assist me with this issue. The number was XXXX, and he called me back several times at XXXX. This person said several things were charged to the XXXX account, specifically someone from Alabama and Florida attempted to charge the account several times. To fix this issue he said to download an app called any desk remote to see the accounts and he would put a block on these accounts. Since I believed he was a true rep I allowed him to download this app to view the accounts to fix the issue. He said to stop any further activity dummy accounts would be set up on XXXX and XXXX XXXX and to transfer money to them. There were several times when money did not go through and a pop up came on that said access denied and he said that's what we want. However when I checked my account {$2000.00} was gone. 

Specifically this rep did so many transactions that it appeared he was helping by blocking further fraudulent transactions, but in fact he was adding small amounts of money to the following persons via XXXX. 
XXXX. XXXX XXXX {$99.00}, XXXX, and {$240.00}. 
XXXX XXXX- {$630.00} XXXX. XXXX XXXX {$99.00} Then he did the same with cash app for amounts of {$140.00} and {$130.00} for XXXX. He claimed these were also dummy accounts and this was the only way to block future fraud. 

In the end {$2000.00} was taken from my Citibank savings and checking accounts under false pretenses. These false pretenses were that the person on the phone was a trusted rep and that he was fixing a fraudulent issue. Never did I authorize him to take my money for a purchase or personal use. This money was an unauthorized transaction. 

Immediately after this happened I called Citibank. Citibank said they would conduct an investigation and would possibly provide provisional credit. However I did not receive provisional credit and in fact when I called to follow up about it they said a letter was drafted and dated XX/XX/XXXX which said that I authorized these transactions. 

I find find this outrageous and feel Citibank did not do a thorough investigation. A determination was made less than 24 hours of the call. Furthermore, I received e-mails and texts from the bank that said they suspected there was unauthorized transactions and please call if it wasn't you. I complied with this, and Citibank unreasonably denied any credit. 

This fake rep also took a XXXX credit card out in my name and charged {$99.00} on the card to XXXX XXXX. The credit card is under synchrony. After their investigation they deemed this charge to be unauthorized and the account is now closed. If synchrony saw the fraud Citibank should also honor the fact that this is unauthorized as well. 

I have been a customer of citibank for over 25 years. They never even considered my transaction history or habit involving XXXX. This is an account I rarely use. Additionally, there were several amounts all sent in one setting to accounts that were never previously used. 

This is very upsetting to me because this isn't a small amount of money and I depend on this to pay mortgage and my sons college tuition. 

I have also filed a police report and they classified this as criminal impersonation.

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 non-monetary relief