Consumer complaint received 2022-08-29
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NJ
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Citi Claim XXXX XXXX XXXX Citibank - Claim # XXXX New Jersey State Police - Case # XXXX FBI IC3 form filed On XX/XX/2022, I received an alert followed by a telephone call from XXXX who identified himself as a Citibank employee, stating that my checking account had been compromised. Someone had tried to use my debit card at a XXXX in XXXX, Georgia. I said I had not used my card in XXXX Georgia. XXXX said the charge was flagged because of suspicious activity. It was denied and no funds were charged to my account. XXXX then said he needed to check to make sure nothing else on my account was compromised. He sent XXXX codes to my text account to verify that it was my account. After being placed on hold, he then told that there had been a wire transfer of {$9200.00} from my account. I did not initiate or authorize a wire transfer. I asked him to freeze my account and block my debit card. XXXX said he did and the funds would be returned to my account. He would expedite the sending of a replacement card the next day. 
I went into my account and found that it was not blocked and the amount of {$9200.00} was gone from my savings account. I immediately changed my password and PIN. 
The next monrning I checked my accounts and saw that my money had not been returned. I called Citibank and the agent whose name I didnt get, blocked my card and froze my accounts. He said that fraud had been committed and I had to call Citis fraud division to report it right away. After long waiting times, I spoke to a wire fraud supervisor who said an investigator would be assigned to get the money back from a bank called XXXX XXXX and XXXX. I was told to call back in several days to find out the status of the investigation. I called and spoke with an agent named XXXX who said it was still under investigation. I went back into my account and saw a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) was listed as a payee. I immediately deleted this individual from my account. I have never heard of this person nor did I ever authorize any such person. 
Several days later while driving in my car, I received a call from a Citi investigator but it was a very poor connection. I tried to understand him but I believe we did not understand each other when describing the events. I could hardly understand him or his questions, but answered what I could. 
He ended by saying that a letter would be sent to me within 5 days explaining status of the investigation. 
The letter arrived on the XX/XX/XXXX saying that my claim was denied. I called Citibank again and a XXXX XXXX, very rudely said that nothing could be done. However, he said he would transfer me to Incidents. I spoke to a agent named XXXX. XXXX said she was filing an appeal on my behalf. I received another call, XX/XX/XXXX. A Citi investigator told me that I needed to file an affidavit with Citibank which is what I did XX/XX/XXXX with XXXX at the XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX. 
I have utilized all the security settings and devices Citibank provides to safeguard my accounts. I have been a loyal customer of Citibank for 30 years. At no time did I provide PIN numbers or passwords to this person who said his name was XXXX. I have never authorized anyone to take money from any account. 
I have since received an answer from Citibank- it is an identical copy to the first denial by Citibank. It is XX/XX/XXXX. When calling for status they said that it was pending approval - this has taken 2 months to get to this point. The same individual reviewed the appeal and gave the identical response. 
It looks over 8 hours to get through to fraud division over the phone after this occurred. I had asked for a swift recall but it was too late. I have notified the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  but they could not identify the account since only the last 4 digits of the account are seen. I have called the banking commission of Tennessee, and am waiting a response from the Federal Reserve of the XXXX XXXX  who was notified by the banking commission.

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