Consumer complaint received 2022-12-18
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:
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a call from the Citi Fraud number, XXXX. I was told later it must have been spoofed. 
Before answering I quickly XXXX the number and the results showed that this was the Citibank Fraud number, so I took the call. Later, I even tried calling the number on a separate line while the original ( scam ) caller was on hold, but it went to a call center and I was put on hold. But it had the recognizable phone tree of Citbank and I could not get a person easily, I then assumed the call I was receiving was in fact legitimate. I recall having received such calls in the past from Citi questioning a charge. 
The caller said a suspicious charge was on my account and could I please confirm if I had made this purchase. I logged on to my account and in fact there was a charge in the amount stated. In logging in I had some difficulty and the caller said they would send a verification code to my cell which they did, The verification code arrived from the Citi texting service, I have previous legitimate texts from Citi on the same string. This seemed utterly legitimate at this point. They provided me with a temporary log-in which I used. Obvious to me now, the scammers had full account access at this point. 
The caller then told there was another XXXX transfer form my account which I could allow to complete and then dispute or if we executed transfers from XXXX to myself, I would be able to prevent the fraudulent charge. I then followed the direction of the individual. 3 transfers totaling about XXXX were made before I realized hat the numbers I was entering were not Citi codes or Citi security measures. 
I saw then almost immediately that I had been scammed and called the Citi fraud number, XXXX searches and Citi website searches directed me to call the same number, XXXX. 
After navigating the phone tree which does not mention fraud or security concerns, I was directed to a call center overseas. I was beside myself and while the individuals were sympathetic and helpful as they could be, they were unable to escalate this to any US security for over an hour. 
They asked nearly all the same questions as the scammers did, and requested my Social Security to verify. I refused. 
They eventually verified that the account had been drained and that 2 more checking accounts were opened under my name. They asked if I would like to lock the accounts which I did, They also offered to send a new ATM card to my address, which the scammers had offered to do as well. I refused as I had no trust in anyone now. They said in that case I would have to go to a Citi location to set up new access for the funds that remained in my account.. 
Both XXXX and I had tested XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XX/XX/XXXX, the day before the theft and I was not feeling well and began running a fever. 
I was finally put on the phone with an individual in Citi Security located in Texas. He said this scam was happening more often and that an investigation was underway for my case. He also mentioned that there seemed to be a loan request and that my case was one of identity theft and not just a XXXX scam. 
I was not able to leave the house until Monday XXXX due to XXXX XXXX requirements. 
Before going to the bank I logged on to the account again and discovered that the same temporary login given to me by the scammers had not been changed. 

On Monday XXXX I met with XXXX XXXX at the XXXX XXXX Citibank branch in XXXX XXXX. She took some time looking into the fraud case on my account. 
She told me that there were also 2 additional checking accounts, both empty, under my name. These were created by the scammers and somehow used to funnel the money out of the account. I mentioned the log-in being the one set by the thieves and she then took steps to further secure my account, which had not been done previously and you said it would need to be closed after the investigation. She also let me know that the thieves would have had access to statements and some information about linked accounts. Our XXXXXXXX XXXX  account, which funded the deposit for the house, might be at risk, I contacted XXXX and locked the account, She mentioned that this seemed to be not only a XXXX scam but case of identity theft. I have a XXXX account and I contacted XXXX to have my credit locked. In fact a loan was requested on XXXX of the false Citibank accounts and a hard credit report had been pulled under my name through XXXX. I have disputed this with XXXX and it is under review. 
I have since received an ATM card for one of these fraudulent accounts and checkbooks for both fraudulent accounts. 
I still receive emails regarding these accounts asking me to activate my card and to activate direct deposit. 
On XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and on XXXX our daughter XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

Thanks to XXXX XXXX I was able to withdraw some of the cash that was still left in my original account so I could pay rent. 
She also spoke to Citi fraud investigators, which took some effort to contact on her part. She relayed to me that a provisional credit would be given to me for the stolen money on XX/XX/XXXX. She then asked me to come back and see her at the bank on that date, XX/XX/XXXX, I went to the bank Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX, but due to appointments and work I arrived just after closing. XXXX XXXX greeted me at the door though, and asked me to send an e-mail to her. 

Per XXXX XXXX 's direction, I logged on to my Citi account on XXXX to see if there was a conclusion on the investigation. 
Unfortunately the attached letter from Citi states that they will not protect XXXX and me from this theft of about XXXX I received a letter on XXXX stating that my legitimate account was in blocked status. Other than this letter, I have not been contacted by Citibank to request further information as part of their investigation. 
This will effectively ruin our foreseeable future. We were in closing on a fixer upper in XXXX, with a deposit of XXXX on that. 
I am afraid we will not be able to close now and we will have to forfeit the deposit since we will not meet liquidity requirements. 
Forfeiting the deposit will bring this loss to about XXXX. I do not think we would recover from this loss and ever be able to purchase a home.

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