Consumer complaint received 2017-12-20
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: DE
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I met XXXX XXXX on XXXX sometime in XX/XX/XXXX I think. He friend requested me. For a long time I did n't answer the friend request I finally did and accepted him. We started talking and we hit it off pretty well, I thought. After he told me he loved me and wanted to marry me, he then asked for my help and that he was in jam. He asked me to send money to XXXX to pay for his shipping fees for goods that he was selling in XXXX worth about 1.3 million in USD. I agreed to help him. Then a few days later he told me that there was a tax fee he did n't know about of {$5000.00}. I helped him. All the while expected he was going to pay me back because he said he would several times which I have snapshots of our conversation on XXXX. After the tax fee was paid he told me he needed money to pay the hotel bill because he spent all his money on the tickets to fly to USA with his daughter, XXXX. ( I actually spoke to his daughter XXXX, supposedly after they arrived in XXXX. ) I have receipts for all the XXXX XXXX transfers that I sent to XXXX. I have snapshots of the names he told me to send them to. Including fees I spent {$15000.00} loaning him money. He kept saying that his friend, another buyer, owed him money from artwork he sold him and was going to pay him in XX/XX/XXXX. At the beginning of the month of XX/XX/XXXX he told me he would pay me back and it would take a few days. Then it turned into just wait. Then it was the XX/XX/XXXX. The it was the XX/XX/XXXX. I have it documented that I wrote his friend said the amount he owed him ( {$64000.00} ) would not show up all at once and the first amount would be {$6500.00} and that I should send that to him to pay the final transfer fees for his XXXX XXXX. ( XXXX told me the transfer fees was why he was " stuck '' in XXXX with his daughter the whole time. ) He stopped talking to me for a few days. I have it documented that he started talking to me again on XX/XX/XXXX and transferred {$5000.00} into the savings account I opened for him about three weeks ago. He said that I was to send him {$2000.00} of it to pay for the transfer fees for his XXXX XXXX dollars with the XXXX. I told him I would n't go behind my mother 's back ( I had confided in three family members by this time. ) to send him another transfer. Also, I said if he paid me in full I could show my mother this and then would be able to send him whatever he needed. I lived with my parents then and she told me I could find another place to live if I sent him anymore money. I tried telling XXXX this but he did n't seem to care I would be homeless. He was trying to get me to do it without telling my mother. I was adamant about not sending him anything and did not. He again stopped talking to me. Then he had his friend call me. He said his name was XXXX, his number was XXXX. He was in NY at the time and told me he was going to XXXX. He told me that I was to send the {$2000.00} to XXXX or he was n't going to pay me the remaining amount that XXXX owed me. I remember having several phone conversations with this man " arguing '' about sending more money or I would not get my other money back. Today I still get angry that I was taken advantage of with regards to money, regardless of being XXXX medications. I can assure you this will never happen again in my life time. XXXX manipulated me into believing I was helping him with his business. However, he did it in a way that was " romantic like ''. I do not know if because he tricked me into believing he was coming to America to be with me when he got the XXXX XXXX dollars matters as a business transaction or not. However, I am also including the information from the bank I used ( which the account is now closed ) and the bank in XXXX that he was referring to. I am also including contact information that XXXX gave me when he said he was from XXXX. Right now I am not sure what to think because it has come to my attention that he could have been XXXX. I remember seeing a glimpse of someone while on XXXX ( for XXXX reasons ) but the video was not clear on his end. I heard his voice and his supposed daughter 's voice at one point. I spoke to his daughter in regards to her interrogating me about " doubting her father ''. My bank was Citizens Bank, account number XXXX routing number XXXX. The XXXX bank was XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 6. XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX. Remittance Department XXXX. XXXX 's contact information in XXXX was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX. Phone number XXXX. I had another number I thought, however, I am dealing with a family matter and do not have access to all of paperwork. Email address for XXXX was XXXXXXXXXXXX. XXXX 's business address was XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX. It was some kind of art gallery. I do not have the information on the name of the art gallery. I have names of the people I address the money transfers to. XXXX XXXX. ( male ). XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX. All were sent to an XXXX location. I have some sort of flight plan information too. It includes his name and his daughter 's name on it. I feel like I am missing some of the information that I had saved for some reason. I have pictures of a man and his daughter. However, I am almost positive that is not who I was actually talking to. I later looked him up again on XXXX to continue to try to get the remaining money back. ( XXXX ). I also tried to email him again at some point I remember. On XXXX I found another man and his daughter under the same name. I had taken screenshots of that person on my phone. However, because I was told over and over again there was nothing anyone could because I had not broken any laws, nor did he, I deleted everything off of my phone just about. Consequently, I do not know which company to consider this complaint on. His " art gallery '', my bank at the time, or the XXXX XXXX in XXXX. I will also mention that Citizens Bank recently started playing additional criminal accounting games with me on my account and I was forced to close my checking and savings account after being with that bank for over 20 years. Since that just happened I am not providing details on that unless otherwise requested because it is kind of difficult to prove what they were doing. I do not have the ability to attached all the documentation that I have to support this complaint.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation