Consumer complaint received 2021-11-22
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX CA XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Citibank XXXX of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, SD XXXX Re : {$20000.00} in fraudulent transactions Dear Citibank, I am writing to request {$20000.00} that was fraudulently withdrawn from my Citibank checking account ending in XXXX be reinstated in in the form of a cashiers check or in a new, uncompromised account. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I discovered XXXX transactions that I did not authorize ( {$3900.00} on XX/XX/XXXX and {$6800.00} on XX/XX/XXXX that were both labeled as Bill Payee to XXXX ( upon randomly checking my account, since I did not receive any email or text alerts ). I immediately called Citibank using my XXXX calling since I was on airplane mode to inform Citibank that these were fraudulent. I spoke with a representative on XX/XX/XXXX, and she assured me that she would have this taken care of and there was no need to close my account. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Upon checking my account again, I discovered that {$9900.00} cleared on XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately called Citibank at XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ) to once again inform that I did not authorize any of these charges. I also called XXXX at XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ) to further investigate but they had no accounts linked to my checking or routing number. 

I informed the representative that I did not recognize a number listed in my contact information and read this out to them ( XXXX ) along with an email I did not recognize ( XXXX ). I immediately changed my password and userID. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Arrived back from vacation, called Citibank and XXXX XXXX XXXX and was told to wait back for the result. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Went to the XXXX XXXX Citibank, spoke with XXXX XXXX, the branch XXXX, later called Citibank XXXX department and was informed that my claim was denied. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Went to the XXXX Citibank, spoke with XXXX XXXX, filed an appeal to Citibank and an XXXX report. I was told at the time by the XXXX Police department that it was not necessary to file a local report. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Submitted an FDIC complaint and was told to contact CFPB. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Citibank denied claims again. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Submitted a CFPB complaint against Citibank. 

XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX : Called Citibank again to check the status of my appeal. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Citibank representative from America calls for the first time to ask questions about my case ( all other times I reached out to Citi myself ) XX/XX/XXXX : Denial email from Citibank with Electronic Payment documents labeled Merchant Transaction Report, called XXXX again, once again they could not find any info with my account info listed on the Citibank documents ( read them everything provided on the document Citibank gave me- account numbers, trace number, reference number, and all of my banking information ). 

XXXX, XXXX, requested transcripts of phone conversations and actual voice recordings from Citibank of the initial conversation I had with the representative on XX/XX/XXXX when I first informed her of the fraudulent charges and she assured me not to worry and that she would have it taken care of. My requests were ignored repeatedly. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Per XXXX denial letter their records indicate that each One Time Password that was generated was sent to your primary phone number on file, not the second unrecognized number. I disagree with this claim, as I did not receive ANY notifications about any of the three charges that cleared. I was on airplane mode the whole duration of my trip XXXX, so it was impossible for me to receive or respond to text messages. 

On XX/XX/XXXX : Filed an XXXX complaint, and FTC XXXX report, filed a consumer complaint with the XXXX District Attorneys office, called XXXX again, and they had no record of my Citibank account or routing number. Went to Citibank XXXX branch, they told me to call the fraud department. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Filed a local police report at the XXXX XXXX, after being advised several times by the XXXX XXXX that a local police report was not necessary. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Filed another CFPB complaint to Citibank. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Citibank responded, Our records indicate that the {$9900.00} payment was entered on your mobile app using a XXXX Pixel XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Considering that you contacted us the day before, there was no payment on file to stop. Please note, the bill payments were credited to the XXXX account ending in XXXX, which was established on or before XX/XX/XXXX. We have attached the details for each transaction in question to assist XXXX with locating these funds ; however, you will need to contact XXXX directly for further assistance. 
I disagree with this entire statement. While it shows a XXXX Pixel XXXX was used, there was no indication of my specific device. I have requested the IMEI and or IP addresses that were used to specifically link my authorization from Citibank but have not received this information. Upon calling XXXX numerous times, they had no record of this account as I spoke with so many representatives and gave them the full account ending in XXXX established in XX/XX/XXXX. Please see later finds from XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ( after a CFPB complaint was made to XXXX ). Lastly, I asked the Citibank representative on XX/XX/XXXX if it was necessary to close my account and I clearly stated that the first XXXX transactions on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX were fraudulent and I did not authorize either of these, yet nothing was done to appropriately secure my account, allowing another {$9900.00} to go through under Citibanks XXXX 

XX/XX/XXXX : Citibank denied my request to obtain the phone conversation I had with the negligent representative on XX/XX/XXXX and stated that I would need a valid subpoena or court order to release consumer account records. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Received letter from Citibank that provided IP address XXXX, but did not provide an IMEI to confirm my XXXX Pixel XXXX device. The letter further states, Our records show that the last time there were any updates on your payees was on or before XX/XX/XXXX. 
I disagree with this statement because upon receiving the document later provided by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, it shows that this account was created on XX/XX/XXXX, which gives me reason to believe that the suspect ( again listed in the document provided by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ) XXXX have adulterated XXXX records to show that this account was established on XX/XX/XXXX, when in fact it was not even created until XX/XX/XXXX. One can also see that the IP addresses do not match any provided with Paypals documents, this seems suspicious that two separate locations would be used if I supposedly authorized both transactions from my Citibank account to my XXXX account. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I changed my carrier and phone number and did a factory reset on my phone, since I have reason to believe that my phone has been hacked. Yet I do not hold any specifics as to how this happened, nor do I know how my bank account was compromised, I do know for certain a hacker got into my account and did these transfers without my authorization. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Citibank denied my claim once again. Received a call from XXXX from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX saying they consider my case closed and will no longer respond to my replies and can not answer any further questions. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Filed CFPB complaint to XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX responded to my CFPB complaint with the following : On XX/XX/XXXX, you created a XXXX account using the email address XXXX ( " Account XXXX '' ). On XX/XX/XXXX, a XXXX account was created in your name using the email address XXXX ( " Account XXXX '' ). Between XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX, XXXX, Account XXXX began receiving transfers totaling {$20000.00} ( Transfers ) from a bill pay service that your financial institution offers. On XX/XX/XXXX, a XXXX debit card ( XXXX XXXX ) was added to Account XXXX. Subsequently, the Transfers were withdrawn from Account XXXX via the XXXX XXXX or used to fund other transactions via XXXX. Your Complaint notified XXXX that you were disputing the validity of this activity, as you had not created Account XXXX. This prompted XXXX to conduct an additional review of Account XXXX and your claim of identity theft. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX investigated your claim and found it to be a valid case of identity theft.Please see attached XXXX document. 

XX/XX/XXXX : In the same response, XXXX provided an in depth document about the fraudulent account with unfamiliar names, addresses, IP address, and credit cards, all from linking the unrecognized number found in my Citibank appeal letter ( XXXX ). I also recognized the initial email I saw listed in my Citibank account ( XXXX ). Despite mentioning this to Citibank when the charges were first discovered in XXXX, and also listing the number in my appeal letter on XX/XX/XXXX, Citibank has outright ignored all mention of this foreign email and phone number. Please see the attached document XXXX has provided and contact them further in investigating my identity theft. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Filed an FTC Identity Theft claim reference number XXXX, here is another update XXXX since the first one XXXX have expired XXXX. Please see both copies of the attached documents. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Updated XXXX police report with all supporting documents proving that I am an identity theft and cyber fraud victim.

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