Consumer complaint received 2019-02-15
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: GA
Product: Credit card or prepaid 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 have been using a CITIBANK credit card. When I checked my credit card account on phone I noticed 9 fraudulent charges, when the card is still in my possession. These charges, according to the statement ( please see attached file " attachment1-XX/XX/XXXX-statement.pdf ''  ) are during the dates XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, used in different states ( GA, PA and CA ) over 9 transactions listed below : ( 1 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA {$19.00} ( 2 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA {$20.00} ( 3 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA {$25.00} ( 4 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX   XXXX XXXX GA {$270.00} ( 5 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA {$280.00} ( 6 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX    XXXX XXXX GA {$19.00} ( 7 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX TUE XXXX XXXX CA {$3.00} ( 8 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA {$25.00} ( 9 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX PA {$19.00} On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX EST I made a call to CITIBANK at XXXX and reported these nine charges. I was on call for about 18 minutes. I  mentioned I have the card in possession and I have not used by card anywhere after XX/XX/XXXX to get a hair cut at XXXX XXXX, XXXX, GA. The customer care representative recorded the complaint and she said that the company will send out a new card. She also mentioned that apart from these 9 transactions, there were a lot more charge attempts made on my account, which made their security system to block the card preventing further charge attempts, as a security measure. I indeed asked the representative why I did not receive any mobile alert about these transactions. Anyway, the issue was put under investigation by the company. The billing cycle ended the following week, and I checked my online statement for the month of XX/XX/XXXX ( please see file " attachment1-XX/XX/XXXX-statement.pdf '' ). The company had given me credit for 1 out of the 9 reported transactions by then. The company gave credit for this transaction : ( 1 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA {$19.00} I had been waiting for refund/credit on the remaining 8 transactions ( numbered 2 to 9 ) pending the outcome of investigation. I have been calling the CITIBANK CARD SECURITY OPERATIONS TEAM at XXXX regularly to check the status. Four weeks passed by and I received my new monthly statement for XX/XX/XXXX ( " attachment2-XX/XX/XXXX-statement.pdf '' ). I came to know via statement that I did not receive credit for 4 out of 8 fraudulent charges. The company gave me refund for the following four transactions : ( 2 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA {$20.00} ( 3 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA {$25.00} ( 7 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXXE TUE XXXX XXXX CA {$3.00} ( 9 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX PA {$19.00} Apparently, for the remaining four disputed charges CITIBANK decided that the remaining four transactions were made my " ME '' and therefore they were not liable, which is where I DISAGREE. I was not covered for these fraudulent transactions as a final resolution by CITIBANK. 

( 4 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX GA {$270.00} ( 5 )  XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA {$280.00} ( 6 )  XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA {$19.00} ( 8 )  XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA {$25.00} To summarize, out of 9 fraudulent transactions that I reported, I was covered for 5 of them. 

I attempted to contact CITIBANK in the following days after the XX/XX/XXXX statement was released. As a followup, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from a supervisor at CARD SECURITY OPERATIONS TEAM saying that the chip card can not be faked and therefore I was liable for the remaining transactions, not the company! On XX/XX/XXXX, I called back the CARD SECURITY OPERATIONS TEAM at XXXX and I placed a request for CLAIM DENIAL LETTER in writing stating the reason for denial of credit for 4 billing disputes. They told it will take two business days to process my request. I called them back on XX/XX/XXXX, to check if the letter has been sent out and the representative confirmed that it was sent out. Today is XX/XX/XXXX, and I have not received any mail at my address. I decided not to wait any more and seek the assistance of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in this matter. 

By law, CITIBANK is required to send the billing dispute resolution via mail. I have not received such a letter, despite making explicit requests for it. 

By law, CITIBANK is accountable for all the amount except for XXXX dollars of customer 's liability, when the card is in customer 's possession. But instead, what I find interesting is that, in my case, the CITIBANK has limited their liability to under XXXX dollars ( {$88.00} is the exact amount out of fraudulent charges amounting to {$680.00} ). This is clearly a case of " cherry-picking '' to limit liability to as low as possible, isn't it? I can not think of any other possible reason why I was given credit for only selected transactions. 

Oh, by the way, please read this interesting advertisement of 0 % fraud liability at the following website : XXXX XXXX XXXX   It's very funny now that I read it.

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