Consumer complaint received 2020-07-20
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: FL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was result of identity theft

Complaint:
COMPLAINT : My complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is to express concern that a credit card group can conduct inappropriate business tactics based upon their opinion that fraud is not possible in a marital situation. Citibank Sears prior CFPB response was, We consider this a civil matter and suggest you find other resources in seeking restitution. It is bad enough that identity theft has a devastating impact on an individual but it is made much worse when a credit card group takes advantage of the fraudulent situation by threatening a card holder to pay for someone elses crimes. Being an identity theft victim is difficult, but the real damage is inflicted by a credit card company who tries to steal ones future with negative credit reporting in spite of the fraudulent facts. I can provide detailed evidence supporting these issues. My concerns needing to be reviewed by CFPB to protect innocent consumers : 1. Citibank Sears MasterCard is still trying to collect on my fraudulent account while withholding actual authorized user application documentation. It was in the application processes in three other credit card accounts in my name that proved to be fraudulent of this four way scam. Those three companies dismissed the fraudulent debts and removed the negative credit reports against me. Their results alone prove the Citibank Sears marital claim is a false premise! 
2. In spite of all the fraud evidence given by the other companies and additional evidence provided by me, Citibank Sears team is in denial - a myopic view beneficial to them! They refuse to accept the documented evidence of a con artist who is a serial identity thief targeting four credit card accounts in my name the typical repetitive behavior of a con artist serial identity thief.

3. As long as Citibank Sears MasterCard intentionally refuses to provide their authorized user application documentation, there is no fair resolution to this issue. The other three credit card companies in this scam ( both existing and new accounts ) discovered fraud in their respective application processes. This would explain Citibanks refusal to provide the actual application documentation including requested details of contact information, the completed forms, the source computer IP address, and my fraudulent authorization. These were all relative factors in the other investigations. 
4. Citibank Sears resisted with subterfuge providing my statements for seven months until I appealed to their presidential office. Once received, the Citibank Sears statements in my name had the same trends of reckless spending, paying minimums, and maxing out the account as the three other fraudulent credit card statements. Combined balances on all the statements were over {$25000.00}.

5. Citibank Sears team is aligning itself with a documented identity thief by not wanting to find fraud or allowing me to review the applications allegedly authorizing use of my credit card. This type of behavior encourages identity theft by crooks. 
6. If anyone was added to my card, it was without my consent or knowledge and is consistent with the other three fraudulent accounts fake methodology. This is what con artists do! Identity thieves tend to be repetitive according to experts and in this case has rung true. 
The Fair Credit Reporting Act rules define I am entitled to my account information from the credit card company. I have requested these applications for a year, but Citibank refuses to provide. In my prior XX/XX/XXXX CFPB complaint # XXXX, Citibank claimed they provided those applications in their XX/XX/XXXX response to CFPB, but no actual authorized user applications are apparent within their written response. This is a similar tactic used to avoid providing my statements for seven months. It was in the other three credit cards application processes where fraud was determined by three independent credit card investigations. I have provided the written evidence of con artist fraud by the other credit card companies to Citibank. 
Referencing prior complaint # XXXX against Citibank Sears MasterCard in denial of fraud in their attempts to collect fraudulent charges in my name -- In effect they have deliberately hampered investigation into my account by delaying providing statements for seven months and have refused to provide any authorized user applications or proof I gave anyone permission to use my credit. Their CFPB deflective response is that fraud is not possible in a marital situation which of course is not true! Their CFPB response statement, We consider this a civil matter and suggest you find other resources in seeking restitution. This view is in opposition to the conscientious results by the other three credit card groups finding fraud. They did not stealthily hide behind Citibanks marital misstatement. Citibank completely disregards all the criminal identity theft findings and wire fraud discovered by the other three credit card companies by a documented identity thief. Written copies of that and additional evidence have been given to Citibank by me. 
Additional evidence given to Citibank Sears includes account statement spending comparisons. My account statements finally provided are consistent with the same fraudulent item spending, paying minimums, and maxing out the account trends as the other three credit card fraudulent charges over time. Expenses and payments were juggled between all four accounts until they were all maxed out some in collection! Evidence that all these accounts were hidden from me have been given to Citibank.

Citibank Sears has submitted to me another settlement letter offering to settle for {$2300.00} payoff of a balance of {$5900.00} which of course I have rejected due to this is a criminal identity theft balance like the three other cards. During the same time frame, even a different Citibank team, Citi XXXX XXXX, determined fraud in an application for a new account in my name. 
I have received a XXXX  credit report updated XX/XX/XXXX by Citibank reflecting this account as an adverse account. Citibank has not reported it to XXXX as a disputed adverse account as they committed in their XX/XX/XXXX, CFPB response. 
Appreciate any help and guidance by CFPB to bring this issue to an honest closure protecting innocent consumers. 
___________________________________ Attachments ( one PDF file including ) : Initial XX/XX/XXXX FTC Identity Theft Report XX/XX/XXXX Citibank Sears Settlement offer letter XX/XX/XXXX My letter response rejecting settlement

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