Consumer complaint received 2018-08-03
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NJ
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 am a victim of XXXX Fraudulent transaction of {$9900.00} on XX/XX/XXXX! I reported this to XXXX  as soon as I saw a XXXX delivery email notice requiring signature on XX/XX/XXXX, when I did not order anything in the prior 2 weeks. XXXX cautioned me not to accept the delivery. I confirmed that No one ordered this XXXX item from my household of 2 people either by web or phone. The XXXX service rep told me that I was protected against Fraudulent transactions, and assisted me in setting up a 2-step verification since my account could have been hijacked. I also reported to Citi card on XX/XX/XXXX regarding this Pending Fraudulent transaction, which Citi did not flag as a suspicious fraudulent transaction and did not put a payment hold on it. Citi closed the account and issued me a new card. 

XXXX  reversed/deleted the transaction as per their policy, but neglected to notify XXXX, XXXX   transaction processing platform. Citi contacted XXXX to confirm the Fraud, but XXXX responded on XX/XX/19 that it was NOT Fraud without verifying with XXXX. XXXX based the decision solely on matching the XXXX name and delivery address with my XXXX account name and delivery address used in a prior order. Citi Fraud reviewer missed the fact that the item was marked as Rejected by customer on the report that XXXX sent to Citi regarding this inquiry. Citi reversed the chargeback by mistake on XXXX while I was on tour in XXXX with no access to my personal phone. 

I called and emailed the XXXX Seller of this item many times, but I have not gotten any response. In fact, the phone number was not accepting calls. The Seller is still on XXXX selling XXXX watch and high end beauty products : XXXX XXXX XXXX?  XXXX Name : XXXX XXXX Phone : ( XXXX ) XXXX eMail : XXXX Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX CA XXXX When Citi re-instated the charge on XXXX XXXX XXXX removed the payment hold to the merchant and subsequently, the cancelled Fraudulent transaction reappeared in XXXX. However, I can not Dispute the item online since it was over 30 days! Also, since I did not receive the item, I can not return the item nor put my feedback! I called XXXX 5 times since I saw the Fraudulent item back, but I got different answers. The latest response was that the issue was now with XXXX so I should contact them directly. However, XXXX stated that they were not made aware about this Fraudulent transaction by XXXX. XXXX informed me that I was not protected by their Buyer Protection Guarantee because the payment was made using Citi credit card, not with XXXX. I asked XXXX to contact XXXX Fraud department but XXXX was very unwilling to help and stated that the issue was already closed on their side since Citi released the paymenthold. XXXX told me that I have to complain to Citi instead since Citi made this decision. 

I strongly believe that XXXX  service department mishandled the processing of this Fraudulent transaction by not following through with XXXX for complete resolution. It was clear on XXXX site that the item was not delivered to me. When the transaction reappeared on XXXX, XXXX was refusing to investigate for me to get a refund or obtain the item from the merchant. XXXX was not owning to dropping the ball even though this incident happened on their site. In fact, XXXX was refusing to send a document to me or to Citi about the Fraud report I made on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I called Citi at least 9 times over the past 3 weeks since I discovered the reversal on XXXX, but I was being passed around by customer service to Fraud and Account Security departments. I escalated and spoke with 4 supervisors already, but I was not getting adequate support that I expect from a top Global Financial Corporation like Citi. I was not confident that Citi was investigating this issue expeditiously. Citi just asked me to pay the Fraudulent $ XXXX, else I would have to pay interest while they were still investigating. It was very frustrating considering that this transaction was not caught by their Citi Fraud Alert System and put on automatic hold since it was not a normal transaction in this account. Citi had previously put a hold on a transaction less than {$1000.00}. Today, XXXX my Citi balance still had this {$9900.00} fraudulent transaction. 

This is a wide Financial Systemic problem that the public needs to be made aware ASAP. I've been trying to resolve the issue calling the merchant, XXXX, XXXX and Citi so many times in almost 3 months. Please help! 


Available Documents : 1. XXXX Delivery Tracking details confirming that I REFUSED delivery of the package 2. eMail communication to the merchant XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX complaining about this Fraudulent order 3. XXXX Report stating that my eBay account was fraudulently used 4. XXXX - Fraud Dispute Response 5. Citi Complaint - Erroneous Reversal of Disputed Fraudulent transaction XXXX Item Num : XXXX XXXX Contacts : Corporate Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, California XXXX Customer Service : XXXX Corporate : XXXX Fax : XXXX CITI Contacts : Corporate Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, NY XXXX Fraud/Dispute Dept : XXXX Fraud/Dispute eMail : XXXX Card Security Dept : XXXX Card Security eMail : XXXX Corporate : XXXX Fax : XXXX XXXX Contacts : Corporate Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX Customer Service : XXXX US Fraud Dept : XXXX Corporate : XXXX Fax : 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 non-monetary relief