Consumer complaint received 2018-08-07
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: FL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Seized or attempted to seize your property

Complaint:
Hello, On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX I received a voicemail message regarding a pending collection. I returned the call and was told by a man by the name of XXXX XXXX that I had an outstanding credit card balance from XX/XX/XXXX with CITIBANK and the statutes of limitations runs out in XX/XX/XXXX. He was calling as a courtesy to help me settle the debt before I got sued. He proceeded to ask me if I had been served papers yet. When I responded no he went in to negotiations. He said the debt was {$15000.00} but he would settle for 50 %. When I explained I didnt have that kind of money he began to threaten me and some of my assets, being 2 car loans. He even knew the 2nd person on one of my loans. He threatened to put a judgment on my house also. This was very frightening and I began to try to figure out what to do. He agreed to a settlement amount of {$2000.00} and gave me 1 hour to  come up with the money. He put me on hold pretending to speak to a manager to approve the {$2000.00}. He then insisted on a debit/credit card number to hold the file open and said it would not be charged until I called back within the hour to let him know the funds were there. 

As crazy as all this sounds, I went through a divorce in XX/XX/XXXX and was left with a lot of debt that I slowly worked through. I really wasnt clear if I had this debt. After speaking to my significant other, I called CITIBANK and was assured that there was no outstanding balance, the account had not been sold and I made my last payment to them of {$1000.00} in XX/XX/XXXX. I tried to confirm the credit card number that XXXX XXXX referenced and Citibank had no record of me having a card with that number. CITIBANK is sending me a letter of good standings. I began to do some research on the company XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and found XXXX had several fraudulent complaints. When I called several of the numbers back for XXXX   and got different people I began to ask questions regarding address and such. They would not provide me with anything other than an address which I found out is in a XXXX store. XXXX XXXX then called back and left a message that my account and phone number had been flagged because all my calls and they were opening my file again and going to proceed. He said he would contact my employer ( and stated employer name ) or wage garnishment. When I called back to remove any consent or debit to my account he was very nasty and said I cant wait to see you in court. 

I feel very stuck, because I believe all this to be fake, but his threats seemed very real. How do I proceed from here? Is there anything I can do to clarify real vs fake or how they got all my personal information? Below I will list all the numbers and addresses I have for them. Please advise moving forward. I appreciate your prompt attention to this delicate matter. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Fl XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, SC XXXX XXXX XXXX Ext XXXX ( hangs up on this line when you press ext. ) XXXX

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