Consumer complaint received 2016-09-29
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Identity theft / Fraud / Embezzlement

Complaint:
I have been trying to have my card unblocked from the fraud protection system at Citi and have called their support line about 10+ times. I was requested to provide a phone number to verify my identity, which I did, but no call came. I was asked to provide my employer 's phone number, which I did and which is a law firm, but no call came to verify my identity. I was also separately asked to fax in my passport ID, a copy of my lease agreement, and a utility bill, which I did, but their records does not show that the fax was received. I confirmed the fax number several times with their customer support agents but because there is a disconnect in the team that handles faxes and the persons I am speaking with, there is no way for them to see whether the fax has been sent. I have called again and again to see if there is any other avenue I can use to try to get my card unblocked. 

Likely, my international ticket purchases triggered their fraud system and I am still able to log onto the Citi card website to check the purchases. I know the purchases are mine, but I ca n't get through the rather arcane processes to verify my identity. I do n't understand why I ca n't get a message from them on my phone, which is under XXXX XXXX XXXX and is and has a New York area code. I can not fathom why they were unable to verify my identity after calling my employer and call after call, I have been asked the same questions every single time I have called about my phone number and then offering to call my employer number and then asking me to fax in the documents again. I have done this so many times already. 

I want to be clear too that there are no fraudulent charges on my card, I can see from the purchase history of the account on which I am log in online that the purchases made were by me. I have also already paid off these purchases so there is no balance on the card. The entire process has just been very frustrating since the representatives have no authority to actually progress this matter further and for some reason they ca n't call me on another number while staying on the line. They have to hang on me to make the call, which course never comes and then the person I spoke with I never speak with again. Repeating this process for over 10 times has become very tiresome. 

I also received a notice in the mail that the account is being closed due to the fraud protection services. I tried to confirm whether the account was in fact being closed as mentioned in the letter sent to me, but the agent let me know that they could not provide to me this information without first verifying my identity. This letter was sent to me 10 days ago, it would have been nice for the agents to tell me this over the phone during this time the issue with my account instead of going through this ludicrous process. 

I understand the need for fraud protection, but when the company uses this antiquated systems to try to resolve the issue and then a dozen calls, faxes and conversations still can not resolve this issue, the system they have in place is simply inadequate. The time waste is also infuriating.

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