Consumer complaint received 2021-11-18
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX, as I was walking into a city Bank  branch to get a cashiers check for {XXXX} XXXX just been transferred my account by relative over the last several days prior and I was checking the app as I was walking in to get the check because another {XXXX was it incoming that was showing as pending in my app, I wanted to make sure all of the funds were in the account which is when the fraud began and within XXXX minutes, my money was gone. I was getting the check which was XXXX total {XXXX which had taken me almost a XXXXr to save and then {XXXX} from relatives from my XXXX treatment which was pending and never hit my account. So I was expecting at least {XXXX} to be in the account however when I walked into the ranch my balance reflected almost {$XXXX}, XXXX  minutes later as I was on hold with the security team my balance was XXXXXXXX it out and all of my money was gone. The tellers were in shock and a manager did try to provisionally reach turned the funds but their security department is a completely separate branch and I have had to deal with them and have spent at least XXXX  to XXXX hours per day on the phone getting nowhere, even having it escalated to managers and supervisors, none of their inquiry information is correct, was even collected or looked into as it would be very easy to see who conducted the fried, where it went to, its obvious it was fraudulent and yes I understand XXXX is not liable for any unauthorized transactions as States their agreement with Citibank which says Citibank would be liable if the fraud originated with them which it did. This is been a huge setback in my treatment, my ability to find safe shelter, the loss of a dog who is my XXXX XXXX dog, everything All I had saved since XXXX when I lost my house, my spouse, my own health and other relatives do you I lost to Covid. I have spent the last year since I got out of the hospital last XXXX after XXXX months trying to rebuild my life and save the {XXXX} wow it may seem like a small amount, it was a fortune to me and it was specifically in the account so I can get a cashiers check that afternoon to meet a landlord in order to secure an apartment I had been looking for for XXXX  months after being homeless as last year as I lost my home, my spouse, got sick myself and it basically almost died. 

l XXXX was not kind, but this situation with Citibank has been XXXX times worse and I would take XXXX  any day over dealing with this disaster that has pretty much ruined my life. I have become XXXX, and I can not get any help. 
as I understand it, I remote desktop app was used to hack into my phone, it even shows that a remote desktop app was added to my phone or a different device, as in my purchase history it says not on this device, and so it was either from an old stolen device that I had reported back in XXXX has being stolen, but it may be an XXXX issue as all of my passwords were changed and a cryptocurrency account was also created which I have never, ever even dabbled in, let alone know anything about purchasing. But here are the details of the day that has decimated me : XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX around XXXX I got a phone call from Citibank XXXX XXXX XXXX As I never received any texts which I have set up for alerts I was suspicious so I called the number back and it was sure enough Citibank XXXX XXXX or so I thought. The manager told me to give them all of my info, the only info that I gave them was nothing that would allow them to violate my account the way they did as I only confirmed the last four digits of my social and my debit card. However, even after receiving a text that there was possible fraudulent activity on my account and replied to the text saying no I did not authorize the transfer and it is fraud. Within the next XXXX  minutes Citibank still allowed fraudulent accounts to be created, my need to be transferred out of my original Citibank checking account and used to open to other accounts as well as upgrade my existing account I had had for almost XXXX years and there is not a thing I have been able to do and I have been fighting every single day since XX/XX/XXXX and it is now XX/XX/XXXX. I was supposed to here from them or have the money returned by XX/XX/XXXX. Instead on XX/XX/XXXX I got a letter with one of the claim numbers, addressing XXXX transactions made from the fraudulent accounts saying they were denied. There is no record of the {XXXX} transferred from my checking account connected to my debit card ending in XXXX. However, they did upgrade the account, send me a new debit card reflecting that I was now a XXXX XXXX account even though I never made any of those changes to my account as I would not have even been eligible if they were to look at my balance history as I have never had a {XXXX balance. And so those accounts that were fraudulently opened would seem to me to be XXXX banks responsibility to rectify, yet they wont. But, the rundown is this : As I walked into the bank I had the Citibank app opened, I was rushing to meet a landlord to get housing and was just making sure that there were some incoming transfers that had been pending XXXX  minutes prior had hit my account, however what next happened is unimaginable. The charge of an incoming transfer for {XXXX} was still pending, but I noticed that it was transferred to an account number I did not recognize. Moments later as I was telling the manager of the bank about this incoming transfer, and he was researching it perplexed, I received a text saying did you try to make this XXXX transfer in the amount of XXXX  to a person named XXXX XXXX, yes or no? I replied no. 
Them I could see in the app that was canceled, however I can see there were transfers being sent out in real time to a recipient named XXXX XXXX, or the phone number attached to it that did not match mine, and was created using an email address I do not use with any of my banking, it was Citibank fraud department who immediately called me, the manager told me to speak with them. I told them I had just had over {XXXX} transferred out of my checking account, which is the only checking account I have ever had and XXXX} was transferred to fraudulent accounts that were created in order to transfer the {$XXXX} daily max out of an into that fraudster/recipients account. However, they first upgraded my account from a regular checking account which I have always had to priority. This is because with a priority account The daily limit is {$XXXX} to withdraw. Yet to have this type of account, you have to have a {XXXX} balance which I will never or have ever had. Citibank is not taking any liability, saying because it was via XXXX, they do not protect transfers either authorized or an authorized, however even the bank managers agree with me that the fraud originated with Citibank,  who is FDIC insured and it should have been provisionally returned at least for the account that was upgraded and changed, and the two accounts used that were fraudulently created in my name because were they not able to hack into my Citibank app, none of this wouldve been possible. Meanwhile, my claims were denied or not even shown as filed, my bank statements do not reflect all of the fraud, they can not even locate where XXXX is now connected to and I never made any changes. And it has been almost XXXX weeks, I have been penniless. I have lost a home, I lost my dog as she requires treatments every week and after XXXX  weeks I was not able to pay a balance since all of my money was stolen, and so its a loss has been monumental both emotionally, physically, financially as I have incurred late charges, decreased credit scores when I had never had a late payment in my life previously. And Citibank is not cooperating.

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