Consumer complaint received 2023-03-04
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: TX
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: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
This complaint is in regards to fraudulent charges posted to my Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card, and Citi 's refusal to remove one of the charges : On, XX/XX/XXXX, Citi alerted me to possible fraudulent charges on my card, via email and text. Both the email and text asked, " Did you attempt {$45.00} at XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ''?. 

I immediately responded " No '' to the text, and received a response instructing me to contact their fraud department at ( XXXX ) XXXX. I immediately called the number as instructed, at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, and logged-in to my Citi account at the same time. 

According to the activity shown on my account, there were a total of 7 fraudulent charges posted to my account, between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. Below, I copied and pasted information from my account activity on Citi 's website : XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX GA XX/XX/XXXX {$87.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX CA XX/XX/XXXX {$2.00XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX GA XX/XX/XXXX {$79.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA XX/XX/XXXX {$44.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA XX/XX/XXXX {$100.00} XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX GA XX/XX/XXXX {$34.00} While on the phone with Citi 's Fraud Dept, I notified them that these 7 charges were all fraudulent, and that I was at my home in Texas during the dates the charges were made. With the exception of one charge, all fraudulent purchases were made in Georgia, the exception being a {$2.00} charge posted from California. 

I requested the card account number be immediately cancelled, and a new account number and card issued to me. 

At the conclusion of the phone call, Citi assured me that all fraudulent charges would be removed, the account was closed, a new account would be opened, a new card shipped to me. I asked multiple times if there was anything else I needed to do to have the fraudulent charges removed from my account ; I was assured, several times, there was nothing else I needed to do. Citi did not provide a time-frame or deadline by which they would have completed the removal of the charges, or when I receive the new card. The phone call, in its entirety, lasted 7 minutes, 2 seconds. 

During the ensuing weeks, I closely followed the status of the fraudulent charges posted to my account. By XX/XX/XXXX all 7 fraudulent charges had been removed from my account. 

Then, on XX/XX/XXXX, after logging in to my Citi account, ( as a matter of course, because I check all bills and payments due, weekly ) I noticed one of the fraudulent charges had been posted to my new account, with a notation of " reversed '' on the charge description ( nearly two full months after the fraudulent purchases were posted to my account and after the account had been closed, and well over one month after all of the charges in question had been correctly removed from my account ). 

The charge, noted above, was from XXXX XXXX XXXX, in the amount of {$100.00}. 

While logged-in, I noticed a new notification. The notification led me to a letter from Citi, dated XX/XX/XXXX. The letter stated : " The merchant provided documentation confirming this is a valid charge. Based on the information available, we have closed our investigation and reversed our credit. '' Another notification led me to an incredibly blurry, almost illegible document titled " Dispute Notification - Request For Documentation '', presumably sent by Citi to the merchant, in order to obtain the veracity of the charge. The documentation provided by the merchant ( One, XXXX XXXX- although due to the document 's illegibility that may not be correct ), in its entirety and attached as page two to the document, is an unsigned receipt from the merchant. Again, No Signature. ( There wouldn't be a signature, because I wasn't there to make the purchase... I was over 1100 miles away, at home ). 

After reviewing the results of Citi 's " investigation '', I immediately opened a chat support window from their website. After restating to the rep ( XXXX XXXX that the charge was fraudulent and that my card number had obviously been compromised, she assured me the investigation team was " working on it '', and that the credit for the fraudulent charge ( again, the fraudulent charge that was not only posted a second time, but posted to my new account ) would appear on my account " within the next 3 - 5 business days '' to my new account. I neglected to inquire how an investigation was ongoing after I had already received an official letter stating the investigation was closed. 

One week later ( today, XX/XX/XXXX ), the charge still appears on my new account, and there is no ongoing investigation that I can see on my end ( after exhaustive efforts ). 

I again immediately open a new chat window with support, explain the issue again, but this time I'm told that I would need to contact the " security team '' by phone. I expressed my frustration with being instructed to call the same group of people that failed in their legal obligation to perform a meaningful investigation into the fraudulent charges, and instead asked to have the chat escalated. 

The chat was transferred to XXXX, who stated that he is a supervisor. He again tells me that my only option is to contact the " security team '', by phone, Monday through Friday, XXXX to XXXX EST. At this point in the process, I realized I was being forced take the situation in a different direction, if I wanted to be able to protect myself from Citi 's disregard for identity theft. I did make a point to ask XXXX to make a note and escalate the issue, because the situation had reached a point that federal law enforcement may have to be included so that I could feel safe and protected. 

After doing research online, I recognized that thousands of Citi customers have experienced an almost identical set of circumstances - A customer notifies Citi of fraudulent charges. The charges are initially removed. Then without notice to the customer, Citi will reverse their previous decision and re-post one or more charges, based on scant information, whereupon the customer may endure several months of pain and suffering from CitiBank, before Citi makes the obvious determination that the charges are fraudulent, and then will reverse the reverse posting. This represents a pattern of unethical processes and legally irresponsible decision-making. 

As such, I've been forced to involve government agencies to seek my rightful remedy. 

As a point for record-keeping : I will not pay Citi for the fraudulent charge in question, or any other fraudulent charges. I will seek legal remedy for any fees, interest, or other monetary hardship enforced by CitiBank, as a result of these clearly fraudulent purchases. Further, I will seek legal remedy for any report that CitiBank makes to any credit reporting agency, any past, present, or future creditor that I have had, do have, or hope to have a business relationship with. Further, I reserve the right to seek legal remedy for any emotional distress, or any other hardships, that I have experienced or will experience as a result of Citi 's actions or inactions, regardless of the outcome of this complaint or any investigations that may arise from this complaint.

List of Supporting Documentation Attached to This Complaint : File Name : " Citi - Screenshot Showing Fraudulent Charges.pdf '' -A screen capture from my Citi account showing information for all 7 fraudulent charges, including the results of Citi 's investigation into each charge. 


File Name : " Citi - XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX '' -A transcript from online chat with Citi Customer Support , from XX/XX/XXXX File Name : " Citi XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX '' -A transcript from online chat with Citi Customer Support , from XX/XX/XXXX File Name : " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX '' -An almost copy of Citi 's " investigative efforts '', showing a receipt with no signature File Name : " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX '' -A letter addressed to me, from Citi, dated XX/XX/XXXX XXXX stating the results of their " investigation '' and determination to re-post the fraudulent charge to my NEW account

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