Consumer complaint received 2019-03-19
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
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:
OnXX/XX/XXXX I contacted Citibank to let them know that I had noticed XXXX and XXXX charges on my Citibank statement that did not belong to me. At the time, I looked back to early XXXX XX/XX/XXXX and let Citibank know that none of the XXXX/XXXX charges back to XX/XX/XXXX were mine. Citibank cancelled my credit card on the phone call. They promised to reverse all fraudulent charges and told me I would not be liable for them. Within about 10 days Citibank reversed the fraudulent charges plus related interest charges from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. That was {$590.00}. Subsequently, after doing additional research, I realized there were fraudulent XXXX and XXXX charges on my account dating back to XX/XX/XXXX7. There were approximately 130 fraudulent charges which total {$2400.00} ( before interest charges ). 

As background information, at the time these charges were made, I was a student and my mother reviewed and paid my credit card bill. She had assumed that the XXXX and XXXX charges were mine so she paid them. Then in XX/XX/XXXX I moved to XXXX XXXX and a few weeks later I purchased a car. It was then, onXX/XX/XXXX,  XX/XX/XXXX, that my mother asked me why I was still using XXXX if I now had a car. I told my mother that I had not used XXXX for many months. At this point we realized something was wrong and I called Citibank so my card could immediately be cancelled to avoid additional fraud. 

Eventually Citibank sent me a few of the receipts for the fraudulent charges - they were in the name of XXXX XXXX XXXX but with my credit card account number. XXXX XXXX XXXX is someone I had been in a relationship with in early XXXX. I have not seen him or spoken with him since early XX/XX/XXXX. The fraudulent charges began in XX/XX/XXXX, months after I had last seen or spoken with him. The Citibank fraud investigator called XXXX XXXX XXXX and he falsely stated that I had allowed him to use my credit card. Based on his claim, Citibank rejected my claim and closed the case. It seems obvious to me that XXXX XXXX XXXX would not be truthful with a fraud investigator and would naturally state that I had provided him with my credit card to use. Of course this defies logic as I had not seen or spoken with him for many months when he began to make the fraudulent charges. 

I then filed a police report so that XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  fraudulent practices would be investigated. I have no news on the status of that investigation but I have attached the information about the detective and case number. I have also provided this information to Citibank. 

Unfortunately Citibank is now ignoring me. XXXX XXXX, who signed the Citibank letter that I have also attached, does not return my phone calls. I have called her and called her, every couple of weeks, to no avail. When I call the general number for the Citibank Executive Office, they take notes and tell me that Ms. XXXX is handling my case and she will get back to me. It's a vicious circle that gets me nowhere. So my Citibank credit card is at its maximum balance, everything on it is the fraudulent charges plus interest accruing each month. I am a new XXXX trying to start my XXXX-XXXX career and I am burdened with this debt burden that Citibank refuses to remove from my account. Citibank should be sending the charges back to XXXX. These are two huge companies who made a mistake - they processed 130 charges with my credit card number but without my name - with someone else 's name!!! Neither company validated the card number with the name of the authorized user. And now these companies expect me to pay {$2400.00} because of their mistakes!

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