Consumer complaint received 2023-07-01
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I was looking for concert tickets for the XXXX tour in XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX at night I found a XXXX group named Swifties Helping Swifties ( Verified Fan Tickets Resell ) and they put up a post saying that there are tickets for XXXX XXXX and to send them a DM if youre interested. I sent XXXX XXXX XXXX a message but it wouldnt go through. I saw on the post other people have tried messaging her but it wouldnt let them and she replied to those comments so I left a comment on her post saying I couldnt leave her a message as well. She replied to my comment on XX/XX/XXXX in the morning saying to message XXXX XXXX and tagged him. I message right away him asking about the tickets and he said he has a verified seller selling 2 tickets for XXXX each. I said ok. He said to send him the money through XXXX so if ever there was an issue with the seller, he can refund me the money. He sends me his zelle email and I send XXXX to a XXXX XXXX. At first it wouldnt go through. I told him there was an issue and he said I would have to send XXXX twice so it would let me. So I do and it goes through. He said he will send the tickets. Then after a while he messages me and says the tickets are not going through and it seems like the seller needs a {$50.00} fee for each ticket for her to send it however it will be a loss for her so XXXX XXXX asked me to send the money. I send it to to the same zelle email he sent me earlier. He said I should get the tickets in 10-20 mins. He sends me a screenshot of the ticket. Then he said it seems I need to pay some fee so I can receive the tickets. I asked if its different from the first fee and he said yes. Its {$50.00} again for each. I check the screenshot and it looked weird because the font looked edited so I told him and he said Ill get it once I send the {$100.00} to a different email. This zelle is to a XXXX  XXXX. So I do however hours pass and I still dont get the tickets. He updated me once in a while. He said things like Im trying to contact ticketmaster to see whats wrong, im sorry for the delay, just give me time, and updated me saying theyre helping us now. Around that time XXXX XXXX XXXX messages me saying hey sorry ticketmaster is having some issues right now but you just have to be patient so I say Ok. XXXX XXXX XXXX me saying i think its figured now but its saying I have to pay for the transfer fee which costs {$50.00} on each ticket and I dont have the money Ive used my money for my daughters XXXX. I ask if its a different fee and I ask for a screenshot the shows theres a fee needed. He said he didnt get a screenshot and that I need to transfer it right away because he has to go back to work. I ask if I can transfer {$50.00} first and he said it has to be {$100.00}. I ask for proof and he says Im making it hard for myself. I say im really uncomfortable and he said he swears on his daughters life. I ask if it doesnt go through, can I just have a refund. He says yes he will refund me if it doesnt work so I send another {$100.00} to another email which is owned by a XXXX XXXX XXXX He said XXXX let me know once he transfers it. I let him know after some time that theres still no tickets. He said it doesnt seem to be working and asks my zelle and says his wife will transfer the money in the morning. The next morning XX/XX/XXXX I ask about the tickets and he said theyre working on it. I dont get a lot of replies from him that day but I continue to message him. I say if I dont get the tickets, I just want my money back. He replies late at night saying he was at work. The next morning XX/XX/XXXX he messages me saying that he used {$200.00} of his own money to move the tickets around so it could be moved to his wifes account. I asked if I will still get the tickets and he says yes if I send {$200.00} because he needs his money back urgently. He sends an email for me to send {$200.00} through zelle but I dont give in. At this time, XXXX XXXX XXXX messages me that she helped figure out the issue. I told her I just want my money back. She said to send her {$200.00} and XXXX XXXX will send me my money back. XXXX message both of them that I can not send anymore money. They try to convince me that I need to pay the {$200.00} to get my money back. They send me another XXXX email but I said I dont want the tickets anymore and that I need my money back. XXXX XXXX blocks me. XXXX XXXX XXXX was still messaging me that it was her money and that I need to send {$200.00} to get the tickets. I try to find the XXXX XXXX and my comment on the post and it says it couldnt load anymore because they have deleted the group.

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