Consumer complaint received 2022-03-09
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
Unauthorized transactions ( where money was withdrawn from my Citibank accounts by a fraudster at tellers at three different Citibank branch locations ) have occurred three times -- in XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX, XXXX. The first two incidents have been resolved and the money returned, but the third unauthorized transaction in XX/XX/XXXX has been inexplicably denied by Citibank. I filed an appeal, but it was denied. The case was closed by Citibank on XX/XX/XXXX. 

The first unauthorized transaction was on XX/XX/XXXX. {$3800.00} was withdrawn from my savings account. I went to the Citibank branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, New York and opened a new account with a personal banker named XXXX XXXX on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. I submitted a fraud claim for this transaction. Since then, XXXX XXXX has been helping me with all fraud cases. According to the transaction record, XXXX XXXX told me that the third-party check of {$3800.00} was deposited at the teller of the Citibank XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX NY XXXX Because the check was invalid, the money was withdrawn from my Citibank savings account instead. XXXX XXXX told me that a fake NJ drivers ID was used at the teller to deposit the check. No ATM card was used. I never lost the card and there was no Pin verification at the teller. He was able to verify this record from the Citibank system transaction record. XXXX XXXX placed an alert on my account so that no one could in the future withdraw money from my accounts without a debit card and pin number at the bank teller. 

Another unauthorized transaction occurred on XX/XX/XXXX, when I found out that {$2200.00} from my savings account and {$2000.00} from my checking account were withdrawn at the Citibank at XXXX XXXX XXXX, NY branch while I was out of the country ( in XXXX, XXXX ). As soon as I returned to New York, I went to see XXXX XXXX at Citibank on XX/XX/XXXX to close the accounts and open new ones. I looked at these unauthorized transactions with XXXX XXXX and submitted the claims. According to XXXX XXXX, a fraudster came into the Citibank XXXX XXXX XXXX branch in New York on XX/XX/XXXX, and a third-party check was used at a teller. This time, a fake New York drivers ID was used at the teller instead of the NJ one. The ID number XXXX XXXX had in the Citibank system record did not match my Drivers License number. After this incident, I filed a police report with XXXX XXXX XXXX at the XXXX precinct in XXXX. I was able to get a refund for these unauthorized transactions in XXXX and XXXX. 

Yet another unauthorized withdrawal of {$4800.00} from my checking account and {$4900.00} from my savings account was made at the Citibank XXXX XXXX XXXX branch in XXXX, NY on Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX am and XXXX pm, respectively. I met XXXX XXXX on Monday XX/XX/XXXX. He verified that it was a teller withdrawal, and the same fake NY drivers license was used in the XXXX incident at Citibank XXXX XXXX XXXX branch. 

Several days after submitting the claim, I received a letter from Citibank incident reporting unit that said my claim was denied because " it was a teller cash withdrawal and cashed out by me, '' which is not true. I contacted the Citibank fraud department through XXXX XXXX and also spoke directly with the incident reporting unit at XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ). I appealed the case, insisting that I never lost my debit card and that no one should have the pin number since the debit card was issued in XXXX, only two months prior to the incident. The appeal was eventually denied. 

I spoke with XXXX XXXX from the Citibank Incident Reporting Unit and asked him if a Citibank internal investigator checked the ID record, debit card number ( if used at all ) or camera record. He was not able to answer any of the questions. XXXX XXXX told me that it was not possible to re-open the case because it was a management decision. XXXX XXXX then advised me to go to the Citibank XXXX XXXX XXXX Branch ( where the unauthorized transaction occurred ) for further assistance regarding the case as well as to go to the police. I went to the branch and spoke with the branch manager and assistant manager, but they told me they were not able to help me because the case was already closed. XXXX XXXX said the branch has access to more information about the transaction, but the branch staff would not even speak to me. I filed a new police report and spoke with XXXX XXXX XXXX at the XXXX XXXX Precinct. He told me that it is possible for anyone to make a duplicate of a debit card. 

Citibank is responsible for letting this fraud happen. Tellers were supposed to see an alert in the system and contact me if there were any suspicious transactions after I had recently been targeted twice. Instead, they convinced me to make new accounts, which they assured me would be safe. They did not provide me any details about the investigation and have effectively blocked me from learning what actually occurred. I am the victim of identity theft and have lost thousands of dollars due to no fault of my own. I respectfully request that Citibank refund me {$4800.00} ( checking ) and {$4900.00} ( savings ), respectively. 

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

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