Consumer complaint received 2020-01-24
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed that there were 4 unauthorized ACH withdrawals from my money market savings account at Citibank, totaling {$19000.00}. The withdrawals occurred between XXXX. I notified the bank of these unauthorized transactions as soon as I noticed them and they provisionally credited the account on XX/XX/XXXX. However, on XX/XX/XXXX they deducted the provisional credit from my account because they " received confirmation from the originating banks that the transactions were appropriately applied to your account. '' They provided me with records of authorization from XXXX XXXX, where I found out an account was opened using my information and the money was transferred into the account at XXXX XXXX. Customer services representatives at Citibank advised me to contact XXXX XXXX   and obtain documentation that the account was fraudulent. This was difficult, considering there were no branches of the bank near where I reside and XXXX XXXX  would not allow me to close the account by phone, because they had to verify my identity in person. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I opened up a second case to return my money, and on XXXX they responded : Based on the information you provided and our second review of your claim, we maintain our position to deny your claim and consider this matter closed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I filed a police report at XXXX XXXX  in XXXX of grand larceny. The investigator assigned to my case informed me that this would be a low priority case and I have not heard from him with any updates. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I opened up a new dispute with Citibank. On XX/XX/XXXX, this claim was denied, as they stated " Due to the limited time-frame that banks are allowed to return these types of transactions, we are unable to return these items. However, we previously contacted the originator of these transactions to try to recover these funds. The documentation returned to us from the originating bank confirmed your authorization. '' In the middle of XXXX, I finally made the trip to a XXXX XXXX branch and began the process of closing the account. I followed up several times with XXXX XXXX  Office of the Chairman and Identity Theft departments, who told me that they were backlogged and it would take a while for my case to be reviewed. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX  sent me a letter confirming that the account was unauthorized and closed the account. They sent the letter to the wrong address, but I finally received it at the end of XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I opened up a new case in order to provide the documentation I received from XXXX XXXX. Citibank told me to fax the document, and I did but they told me they didnt receive it. Then they told me to email the document to DC.disputes, and again when I called to confirm they said they didnt receive it, and the customer service agent suggested it was because I didnt include my account #. So I resent the email with account number and I requested for them to put a note on the dispute to wait to review the case until I sent in the documents. On XX/XX/XXXX, I went to a Citibank branch and had them fax all of my documents and proof to the attention of billing disputes, as was instructed to me. However on XX/XX/XXXX, I received communication from Citibank that my case was resolved, with no other information. When I called Citibank, they informed me that he case was closed not in your favor, and they had not received any of the documents I sent. She said there was no information about why my claim was denied and told me that I should contact XXXX XXXX, as the case was closed and there was nothing she could do for me. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to XXXX at XXXX XXXX, who is the manager of the identity theft unit at XXXX XXXX. She was the first helpful person in the long process and explained that Citibank seems to wrongly have classified my claims as ACH disputes, when in reality they are online billing disputes. She said that they have had many similar fraud cases with Citibank and that Citibank needs to file an R10 - through Fiserve- so that it will appear on the suspension and return code. She stated this may also be called an EWF or compass return form. If they do this she explained that XXXX XXXX will return the money. 

I am extremely frustrated that Citibank has given me so much misleading and confusing information and was classifying my claim incorrectly the whole time. They clearly did not understand the nature of the fraud and have been completely unhelpful. I need to speak to someone at Citibank who is knowledgeable about my particular situation who can escalate it appropriately. This is a lot of money and I need it back as soon as possible.

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