Consumer complaint received 2021-02-08
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was result of identity theft

Complaint:
Hello, Summary : citi charged me interest fees & late fees on a fraud balance, didnt remove these fees even after the fraud was cleared, & processed to charge interest + late fees on this previous fees! Then sent this to collections agency! 

... citi card I owned got frauded, was charged interest & late fees on this fraud amount ; when fraud amount was finally removed, the late fees & interest they charged on it & promised to remove was only removed for XXXX, not XXXX, leaving a balance of {$430.00} in interest & late fees in XXXX charged cuz of the fraud balance in the account. Then kept charging late fees + interest on this {$430.00} balance every month which then became {$890.00}. Of this amount, {$100.00} was a fraud charge from XX/XX/XXXX that was posted XX/XX/XXXX, on top of the {$430.00} in non waived fees. 

.. then proceeded to send this compounded ball of fees they promised to waive they then charged even more fees on to a debt collection agency and said they no longer have access to the account, all the notes & conversation recordings are deleted. 



Full story : I got a Citi XXXX card thinking it was a premium card with superior protections and service. 

However starting XX/XX/XXXX, fraud starting showing up on the card. Citi did the responsible thing and locked the card and refunded the 3 instances of fraud. 

However, to my total surprise, while the card was locked and I was blocked from accessing it, the fraud actually continued, and continued into XX/XX/XXXX, racking up close to ~ $ XXXX in fraud! 

I had a prepaid cellphone plan, and citi thus couldnt verify Im the fraudster by phone, and needed to mail a verification, which they proceeded to send late such that I received only by XX/XX/XXXX. 

I was finally able to get access to the account and thus request them to remove the fraud. 

I highlighted on the statements which charges were legitimate and which charges were fraud. 

I paid my balance, and they refunded the fraud ( which were all these weird charges made in XXXX and XXXX towns - I never left America ) in multiple steps, each time me having to call back to ask the remaining fraud amount to be refunded. At first {$3500.00}, & then {$5600.00} of fraud. 

Finally by XX/XX/XXXX, I had paid all my charges & they seemingly would wipe out the rest of the account remaining which was fraud charges. 

However, to my great surprise there was still a {$550.00} balance on the account at the end of XXXX / XXXX, in spite of me paying off my total amount and the rest being fraud they said theyd refund. 

I soon realized what happened - they had wiped out the interest & late fees being charged on the fraud in XXXX, but did not remove the interest & late fees being charged on fraud amount for XXXX. 

{$39.00} of late fees were charged on the fraud amount in XX/XX/XXXX, & another {$39.00} in XXXX. {$170.00} of interest in XXXX, & {$140.00} of interest in XXXX, & {$40.00} in XXXX. 
.. this comes out to {$430.00}. 

Then a fraud charge from XX/XX/XXXX was posted on XX/XX/XXXX for {$100.00} and was also charged. ( It was fraud cuz it was same merchant and transaction amount as fraud done in XX/XX/XXXX by this same merchant and amounts ). The fraud charge was labeled : XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX-XXXX  - XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX {$540.00} is the amount that was then left on the account when the account shouldve been zero. 

They then proceeded to charge {$39.00} of late fees for not paying these fees charged on fraud amount every month, and interest every month from {$11.00} to {$17.00}. Such that the balance ultimately came to {$890.00}. 

Citi then proceeded to dispose this amount to a collections agency XXXX XXXX XXXX, and said my whole file & account and citi had been deleted. 

So now I have a debt collector trying to collect money on interest charges & late fees charged on past interest charges & late fees, themselves charged for a fraud balance on the account!!! 

Citi specifically stated that they would clear the interest charges & late fees charged on the fraud amount, and they did do that for the XXXX charges, but seemingly missed doing so for the XXXX XXXX to XXXX charges, and then beyond. 

This is not money I owe or interest fees on money I owed Citi, but is from the fraud balance citi had on the account while I was blocked from it and they were investigating. 

Its totally unfair and unethical to then not remove these fees and then send them to a debt collector who doesnt even realize this isnt money I owe. 

I expect citi to examine the statements of my accounts, remove this debt, and inform XXXX XXXX XXXX as such. 

An examination of the statements will show how I paid all the amounts that were my charges, the remaining amounts remaining were fees charged on the remaining fraud balance, and this now being sought as collections from XXXX. 

Its a tragedy to have my credit report for the next 7 years to be sullied by a collections due to the lack of follow through, broken promises, and incompetence of Citi credit card XXXX 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 non-monetary relief