Consumer complaint received 2022-09-04
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: VT
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: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
I have 2 issues. One is with Citibank and the second is with the police. My issue is more complicated than just dealing with the card company. But the card company, CitiBank has been worse than useless to work with. They have refused to BLOCK my credit card account to stop all purchases.They will only LOCK the account which still allows all of the fraudulent recurring monthly purchases to still be allowed to continue for the Identity Thief 's benefit. Her cell phone, and many digital services such as XXXX will all continue to be paid. 

The identity thief is a renter in my home. We share the house. This person stole my credit card out of my wallet while I was sleeping. it was used to make XXXX in person purchases. Then white out was painted on the XXXX and XX/XX/2022 statements before I had checked the statements to hide the fact that they had gone shopping and rented a {$260.00} tuxedo for their teen 's prom in XXXX. ( I only discovered this serious issue on XX/XX/XXXX ). 

The current problem stems from another incident in XX/XX/2022, I caught that the identity thief had attached her cell phone to a different credit card of mine. When she realized that I was online trying to straighten out the mess she went online and deactivated my phone and took over my cell phone account. She permanently erased my cell phone number and history from my cell phone account so that I was unable to get any help from the cell phone company the next day when I discovered what she had done. I had to switch my company and buy a new cell phone. Because of the deactivation of my phone -- when I tried to alert Citibank to the fraud on the account the agent could not send a text to my new cell phone because their records did not show that my new cell phone was attached to my name or my account with them. Therefore CitiBank could not verify my identity to make changes to my Citibank account status. Citibank would not BLOCK my account from any further charges because they could not verify my identity. They told me to go to a branch but there is no branch near my location. I could only find citibank ATM only locations. I can't even report the stolen card or the purchases because they can't verify me over the phone. The agent told me that they were sending out a form but that it was going to take 10 days to get to me and then it would take longer to return to them in order to verify me by mail. 

Problem 2 stemming from the fact that my identity can not be verified and the card can not be blocked, the thief was able to attach her cell phone to my citibank account as a recurring charge and several other digital services to my card before Citibank LOCKED my card. That means all recurring charges are still paid by Citibank until the card is permanently BLOCKED for FRAUD. After that I also discovered that there was white out painted on both of my Citibank statements for XXXX and XX/XX/2022. When I downloaded the statements, a few days ago, I learned that there were XXXX in person purchases with my credit card. The large purchase was for a tuxedo rental {$260.00}. 

I went to the tuxedo shop and they gave me the receipt with the forged illegible signature, the signature was verified with a DMV ID number ( an adult was required to show ID to enter into the rental contract. ) The ID was not photocopied nor was the name written down. But the Name of the person wearing the tuxedo, who was the teen son and the name of the school and the prom date were all printed on the receipt along with the address we all share. Here is my question : A police report was opened on XX/XX/2022. The police officer was provided all of the information along with the ID # but the police officer will not give the name of the adult who had possession of my credit card. It could have been the Mother, the sister, the father or a friend who used my card. I need to know, I am trying to get a restraining order for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX I need that name on the ID to present to the judge. The police officer told me that I can't even see his report until it is done and he told me that it would be a long investigation. How can there be a long investigation when he already has ALL of the evidence? What I understand as a layman from reading up on The Fair Credit Reporting Act and Section 609 ( e ) the police officer should be releasing that information from the ID card to help me to protect myself from these people. If the store had photocopied this ID then they would have had to show me the photocopy with the picture, the name, and the address. Is the police officer misapplying the law in my case harming me in the process. The police report is in New Hampshire. 

I also have another huge criminal case opened in Vermont against these people who have stolen {$50000.00} dollars from me through all sorts of identity theft methods. I don't understand why laws are so lax that the police haven't any reason to arrest these people or why renters rights trump the person who owns the house who is being robbed by these people. A store can serve a No Trespass Order just for shoplifting some items from the shelves. I know this because this person has been served several No Trespass orders for shoplifting, while I am not allowed to lock these people out of my home who are stealing far more than they ever could from a grocery store or a XXXX store. The Vermont Police department refused to tell who the name on the ID card is for the same reason as the NH police, both citing privacy laws for the thief who gave their ID in Public in order to steal services using my credit card. And if the store had made a copy to protect their business then it would have been required for the business to show me the ID card. And from what I understand the business is shielded from privacy laws when sharing the information with the person who has had their identity stolen. The victims rights are supposed to trump the thief 's rights to privacy. 
AM I CORRECT? What can I do in this situation to get the name on the ID card?

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