Consumer complaint received 2021-02-19
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: IL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
By way of background, I was a victim of wire fraud that took place XX/XX/2021. It initially started with a text message from XXXX stating that someone was attempting to purchase {$2500.00} worth of XXXX products from XXXX using my debit card which is tied to an XXXX account I have.. 

The text was immediately followed up by an email directing me to call " XXXX to confirm the purchase. Naturally, my first instinct was to call the number when I heard this, as I was frantic at the thought someone had access to my debit card info, so I called the number that was listed on the email. I had no reason to believe it was not authentic and legitimate because all of the correspondence from " XXXX '' appeared to be genuinely from them. 

Upon speaking with the fake XXXX rep who identified himself as " XXXX, '' he instructed me to download two apps that would serve as added security to protect my XXXX account from any future security breaches. Again, I thought I was talking to a bonafide IT security rep from XXXX. 

To further exacerbate the problem, I then received a text from what genuinely appeared to be Citibank asking if I authorized a payment of {$2500.00}, to which I selected Option 2 for " no. '' Please keep in mind that this chain of communications from both XXXX and Citibank appeared authentic so I had no reason to suspect that I was being further drawn into this web of deceit to compromise my bank account. 

I subsequently spoke to the real Citibank, who informed me that they never sent out a notification asking if I was conducting a transaction of any kind for {$2500.00}, which led me to question why they didn't decline such a large transaction, as my account is set up to receive fraud alerts for suspected activity. It is important that I stress that, at no time, was any personal or other identifying information shared with the scammer ( s ). As I explained in my initial claim, I never authorized the payments and I provided ample proof of that. It was abundantly clear to me, at this point, that I was a victim of fraud. 

Quite honestly, I'm now wondering if this was an inside job. Given the position Citibank has taken and the quick turnaround for a thorough investigation. I find it interesting that one of the Citibank investigators told me that she fully understood my plight, as something similar happened to a family member, but arrived at a decision that the claim of fraud was something perpetuated by myself. I ask you, who would put themselves through this unnecessary chain of events? 

I'm very concerned about my account and the potential negative impact to my credit rating, as well as my reputation with Citibank or any other bank that I may subsequently chose to do business with. Further, I am appalled that, since this incident, all my subsequent calls to customer service and attempts to conduct certain banking functions e.g. XXXX money to someone seems to have me under scrutiny and feeling as though I'm the criminal, when clearly I'm the victim. This entire situation has caused me a tremendous and unrelenting amount of stress and anxiety. 

In summary, with fraud and scams being so widespread, I believe Citibank was woefully negligent in protecting my account from this breach by not sending out a text verifying that I authorized the wire transfer. Again, in all of the 18 years I have been with Citibank, I have never sent a wire transfer. I later learned there is a difference between a wire transfer and a bank-to-bank transfer or ITT transfer. Apparently the fraud barriers that you have in place don't work. I have been a customer of Citibank for 18 years and have never had any negative activity on my account until this episode. I do not feel my money is safe or my business is appreciated. 

As an aside, I'd also like to note that a few weeks prior to this incident I received a text from Citibank asking if I was using my debit card in XXXX. I WAS NOT. Maybe these incidents are related, perhaps not, but clearly there is rampant fraud going on and Citibank knows it ; and as such Citibank needs to bear the responsibility for this fraudulent activity perpetrated against me and restore the {$2500.00} to my account. I would also like to add on a recent conversation with a Citibank representative regarding my XXXX privileges not being reinstated, I asked her about a wire transfer being stopped or canceled and she told me Citibank can do whats called a wire transfer to stop the payment. This is a total contradiction of what I was previously told. Perhaps when I recognized I had been scammed and called the bank to stop the payment, we wouldnt be where we are now. I know wherever the money was wired, there is an end point. We live in a society where technology is pervasive and everything has a footprint. I also learned recently through several reliable news stories that Citibank inadvertently wired money to a vendor and cant retrieve that money. Im wondering if Citibanks error has impacted me getting my money back. 



Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

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