Consumer complaint received 2023-05-16
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: LA
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: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX, I received a phone call from Sears Mastercard inquiring about some charges that were attempting to be made on a very old credit card under my husband, XXXX XXXX and I 's name. I stated that we were not making these charges and that we had not used this account in many months. The account balance was XXXX and we did not have any cards for this account. She stated that these charges would be denied. That evening I went online to check this account and discovered that some fraudulent charges had actually been made. My husband and I immediately called Sears Mastercard, told them this was fraud and asked that the account be closed. After speaking with the representative, we were assured that it was closed. Approximately two weeks later, we received a letter from Sears stating that there was some recent suspicious activity and asked that we call them. Again, my husband and I called and learned that there were {$5000.00} of fraudulent charges that had been done and that the account had never been closed as we had requested and been told. The representative closed the account, reported the charges as fraud and told us that someone from the investigation department would be contacting us within two weeks to discuss the case. We also learned that the address they had on file was one of an old address of a home we had lived in 16 years ago and the phone number on file was an unknown number. We changed the address and phone number. On XX/XX/XXXX we filed a police report of this incident with our local sheriffs office. Beginning of XXXX, we discovered that all of the fraudulent charges had been put back on the account as due and owing. I contacted Sears Mastercard which is handled by Citi Cards and the representative asked if the investigation team had contacted us because that was the documentation stated. I told him no. After verifying information, the address on the credit card and telephone number had not been changed in the system as we previously had discussed with the representative earlier who had actually closed the account. He changed the information, gave me the fraud investigation department number, asked me to contact them the following day and let them know that the information was not correct in their system and to reopen the investigation. I contacted them the next day and requested his instructions. We began getting past due notices of a payment due on this account. I attempted to contact Sears Mastercard to get a status on the fraud update, was always transferred many times with no success. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was finally able to speak to someone named XXXX in the investigation department who was the investigator assigned to our case. She stated that they were able to ping one of the charges, gave me the name that was used and told me that I would have to go to the sheriffs office and file charges against this person. She also stated that this person could pay the account off or we could allow them to make monthly payments until it was paid off. Now, I have no idea who this person is. The investigator gave me her name and her " direct contact line '' and told me to call her once charges had been filed. I repeated her direct line 3 times to assure that I had the right number. The sheriffs office said charges could not be filed with a " ping '' and no evidence. I attempted to call the investigator three times and left three messages to return my call the next three days. I received no call back. I called a fourth time on the fourth day and left another message. Approximately 20 minutes after leaving the message, I received a text message that stated " I am not the person that you are trying to reach. '' My husband and I had to acquire the services of a fraud protection agency to assist us with this matter. By this time, we are receiving past due notices and collection calls. On XX/XX/XXXX, we, along with the fraud collection representative, were able to speak to an investigator named XXXX who reviewed our case and stated that she would take over our matter. She also gave us her direct phone line and our case number and assured that all charges would be removed. On XX/XX/XXXX, the majority of the charges were removed but there was a remaining balance of a near {$500.00}. After our review, it appears that the Sears Mastercard late charges and interest fees had not been removed. I called six ( 6 ) times for our new investigator, XXXX and left six messages. I received no return phone call. Our fraud protection agent also called for XXXX and left three messages. She also received no return phone call. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called customer service, spoke to someone named XXXX and she stated that balance would be adjusted within the next two weeks. On XX/XX/XXXX, we, along with our fraud protection agent, called the customer service line, was transferred to the Security Operations department and spoke to XXXX. After going over the entire case, she stated that she would reopen the investigation case because it had been closed. I told her that we were continuously receiving collection calls and she told me to tell them that the case was reopened to finalize the fraud. On XX/XX/XXXX, we received another collection call for payment. I stated what XXXX had said. The representative transferred me to the investigation department. The investigation department representative stated that she did not see that the case had been reopened. None of these charges were our charges. They were all fraud. We diligently reported them immediately. We HAVE NEVER RECEIVED ANY CALLS regarding our fraud issue from Sears Mastercard Citi Bank. ALL CALLS were initiated and made by us. We can not seem to find anyone to resolve this issue. This account had a {$0.00} balance, had not been used in a very long time and were fraud charges. Sears Mastercard Citi Bank continues to send us these demand past due letters. The collection calls have become several times per day. They have been reporting all of this on our credit reports which continues to reduce our credit score tremendously. I am asking and pleading that you please assist us with getting this matter resolved and these charges removed by Sears Mastercard Citi Bank. I am also insisting that all reporting to the credit bureaus on our account be corrected. Thank you very much.

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 monetary relief