Consumer complaint received 2017-10-20
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
Background information : I received an email on XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX, New York [ see : XXXX and XXXX 's email is : XXXXXXXXXXXX ] offering me a Project XXXX position in Texas after XXXX weeks of training and weekly exams and then a final exam on Week XXXX. I was even interviewed by their HR Department out of XXXX, XXXX ( so they claimed ). I was told that they are an international company providing shipping services in XXXX and now branching out to the U.S. Because I did so well on Weeks XXXX & XXXX exams, they offered me a part time job for weeks XXXX & XXXX with a bonus commission of $ XXXX and a chance to make {$4000.00} at the end of XXXX weeks training instead of the usual {$2000.00} they promise to pay all candidates for participation. 
For the part time job they want me to purchase XXXX computers for their XXXX, Texas office opening sometime in XXXX using XXXX gift cards that I was to purchase using my credit card and they would immediately reimburse me with their XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX checking account with routing number. Week XXXX purchases appeared to be reimbursed to me with this XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX checking account with an authorized limit for week XXXX of {$7900.00} to cover XXXX gift card purchases and a {$400.00} weekly bonus. Official looking purchase orders ( see Exhibit G on pages 11 & 12 ) were emailed to me. The week XXXX purchase order was for {$14000.00} plus a {$400.00} bonus and {$720.00} to buy an XXXX XXXX for personal use. We ended up losing {$15000.00} in purchases of XXXX Gift cards because Citi confirmed balance transfers and then unconfirmed them at a later date. 
My main point of contact was called XXXX XXXX XXXX, HR Manager at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, US Department : XXXX XXXX XXXX, New York XXXX, NY XXXX U.S.A. Phone : XXXX and XXXX XXXX : XXXX. I 've only spoken on the phone once with XXXX ( he called me once for a very short conversation ). All other communication has been via email ( XXXXXXXXXXXX ). XXXX emailed me daily lesson plans for studying in order to prepare for weekly tests. XXXX study lesson plans were emailed to me ( one per day ) over a XXXX week period of time ( XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - XXXX/XXXX/XXXX ) and on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX a final exam was emailed. By then I had realized it was a scam and stopped communicating with XXXX. 
I have put {$15000.00} on my Citi Advantage credit card from XXXX/XXXX/XXXX to XXXX/XXXX/XXXX purchasing XXXX gift cards and providing the card numbers to XXXX XXXX. I would only provide card numbers to XXXX for his weekly report when XXXX would show my online current balance as being paid for the corresponding amount. 
I received payment confirmations from Citi ( I have two online payment confirmations that I saved and in every case my account balance displayed online was reduced a corresponding amount. I would have never provided XXXX gift card numbers to XXXX otherwise. Therefore, It seemed obvious to me that if my credit card current balance had been reduced back to what it originally was, then the credit card company must have received payment from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX checking account. Otherwise, I would never take such a risk of providing gift certificate numbers to XXXX XXXX. It seemed simple - first I get paid for the purchase of XXXX Gift Cards ( as was reflected in my online Citi credit card balance ), then I provide gift certificate numbers. This is the process that I thought was taking place. It seemed safe and secure. 
We have been victims of credit card fraud. We believe that Citi 's online banking policies facilitated this fraud and many thousands more American consumers will be taken advantage of in a similar way by those committing fraud unless Citi makes some important corrections to online balance information that is currently displayed when a payment is made from another bank account and routing number. 
I believe we speak for consumers everywhere as well as for ourselves. We ask to have the fraudulent charges of {$15000.00} to our credit card removed / cancelled by Citi. Also, to prevent future fraud practices we ask Citi to implement a few simple changes to their online credit card statements by providing a simple warning on all confirmed transactions to the card holder that balances shown are not final until payment is actually made by the bank account provided. The current wording on Citi Payment Confirmations makes it appear that the deposit has already taken place. 
I purchased XXXX Gift cards for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to be used for the purchase of XXXX computers and provided the gift card numbers to my point of contact after my credit card " current balance '' was reimbursed with the XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX Checking account Number & Routing number I was given to reimburse myself for these purchases. One problem is Citi confirmed payments and lowered my " current balance '' accordingly and now is putting the amount of the " current balance '' back up as if the payment they confirmed and accepted and reflected in " current balance '' was never made. I strongly believe that Citi should never have reflected a lower amount in my " current balance '' until payment is actually received by Citi. 
On XXXX XXXX and XXXX, XXXX, I purchased XXXX XXXX gift cards for a total value of {$15000.00} and revealed the card codes after I thought the balance was paid off. When I checked with XXXX XXXX on Friday, XXXX, I was surprised to discover that the card balances were XXXX. I was led to believe that I would be purchasing XXXX computers for a new XXXX office with these XXXX cards in a few weeks time. Please note : On Friday XXXX our Citi credit card balance still reflected that payment had been made to us for recent purchases indicating a balance of {$370.00}. 

XXXX/XXXX/XXXX Citi, XXXX, Fraud Dept - Spoke with XXXX and indicated to her that Citi 's payment confirmations created a false sense of security strongly indicating that the transactions were complete and final. Account balance was reduced accordingly as expected to {$370.00} and remained thus through Fri ( XXXX ). On Sat ( XXXX ) account balance was reversed to {$9800.00} and on Tuesday ( XXXX ) account balance was reversed to {$17000.00} completely surprising us since we had received the following notes on our payments : " Success! We 've Received Your Payment '' and 15 digit " Payment Confirmation Numbers '' for the XXXX online transactions. 

For the XXXX pay by phone transactions, I also received verbal confirmation that the payment went through and the revised balance was immediately reflected accordingly in my online statement making us feel that the online payment transaction was a done deal and giving us the confidence to turn over the XXXX Gift card numbers to the individual who ultimately committed fraud against us. 
We have suffered grave financial distress because of this. I am XXXX years old,  retired on a limited income. 
We request that Citi removes / absorbs {$15000.00} from our current credit card balance of {$17000.00} As members of XXXX XXXX we had a law file a demand letter - see attached document. 
Citibank responded to this demand letter denying request - see attached document. 
Legal firm sent a letter to us stating they would help us find a law firm to continue to challenge Citibank - but we ca n't afford this option. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is our only recourse. Thank you for any help you can provide. 
Please see attached XXXX documents with supporting information.

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