Consumer complaint received 2016-07-18
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: VA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Identity theft / Fraud / Embezzlement

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, 2016 I received a letter from Macy 's thanking me for an inquiry that I DID NOT MAKE. The next day a refund check was issued for the balance on my Macy 's card in the amount of {$310.00}. I called Macy 's customer service immediately to figure out why I received these letters in the mail and was left on hold for a total of 2 hours and spoke to various representatives in various offices. They were able to identify that a fraudulent payment of {$300.00} was made to my {$100.00} limit account in XXXX, and that a fraudulent request for the balance to be refunded as a check was made shortly after. They told me they would issue a credit to my account to take care of the balance and that it would reflect on my next billing statement. I was advised not to cash the check that was sent to me. They assumed the payment was applied to the wrong account. On my XXXX billing statement I noticed on XXXX XXXX there was a payment reversal in the amount of {$300.00} and that was the reason for my card that I owed NO money on to now carry a {$300.00} balance. I waited the month they instructed me to, and attempted to use my card for a {$30.00} purchase in the store. When the purchase was declined, the sales associate called customer service to help me figure out what was going on with my card. I was on hold and in the store for a total of about 1.5 hours. There was no resolution and I paid cash. When I got home, I called their Fraud department and again, was on hold for over an hour while managers and service employees combed through my account records trying to figure out how the payment was made to my account without my consent and how the refund was authorized BY FAX without my permission and without proper identification. The request made by the fraud department was to send them a copy of my license for identification along with a description of the fraud my account has endured. I was completely thorough and included dates and descriptions of the transactions. I mailed everything in, and never received notification of receipt nor a response on any kind of progress with my case. The lady from the fraud department reassured me that the original disputed amount as well as all late fees associated with the fraud case would be taken care of and that all negative reporting to the credit bureaus would be removed upon resolution of the case. She advised me to close the account to stop the accrual of further late fees. I have been consistently charged a late fee for a balance that i never authorized for a total of 7 months with still no resolution. This has had a horrible effect on my credit score because of the monthly reporting of an unpaid balance. Also having to close my first and oldest account of 10 years has had a negative impact on my credit score as well. This is unacceptable. On XXXX XXXX, 2016 I received yet another letter from Macy 's regarding the check they issued to me on XXXX the XXXX notifying me that I have 60 days to cash the check I never asked for before they place a stop payment on it.

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