Consumer complaint received 2020-01-10
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY
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: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a text message from Citibank informing me about a suspicious transaction on my credit card. I immediately called the fraud department and discovered that 4 transactions totaling {$16000.00} ( in less than 15 minutes ) were made in XXXX. I informed them that I did not make any of the transactions and I was in XXXX XXXX, NY. I was assured that the charges will be removed. Soon afterwards, one of the charges was removed but three charges totaling {$13000.00} remained on my card. I made further phone calls and was assured the other charges will be removed after an investigation. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Citibank informing me that I am liable for the charges because my chip-enabled card was used for the transaction and I had stated that the card was in my possession. As I was sure I did not make the transactions, I immediately filed a police report and submitted a formal letter requesting an appeal the same day. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Citibank fraud department to find out the status of my appeal and was informed that the case was closed and I was still liable because " my phone had made a call to activate the new card prior to the transactions ''. This was the first time I was made aware of the existence of a new card. I did not request, receive or activate a new card. The card in my possession was issued in XX/XX/XXXX and was not due to expire till XXXX. The Citibank representative informed me that the new card was activated by a phone call made from my cell phone. He stated that in less than an hour of card activation, {$16000.00} was charged to my card. My official XXXX phone log proves that I never made a call to activate the card. The logs also show that I was in XXXX, NY when I called returned a call from the fraud department within minutes of the fraudulent transaction. 

I was informed that I had one last chance to contest the charges by Citibank executive response unit. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent a letter to the executive response unit, including an official XXXX call log that definitively proved I never made a call to activate any card, and that I was XXXX miles away from XXXX at the time of the fraudulent transactions. 

On a follow up phone call with Citibank today ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I was  informed that my final appeal was again rejected. I was not given clarification on why it was rejected or on what further recourse I have. 

To summarize, fraudulent transactions were made with a replacement card I never requested or received. The card was supposedly activated by a phone call made from by phone even though my call log clearly shows that it wasn't me. The credit card was previously used only for recurrent transactions, yet within 45 minutes of a replacement card activation, {$16000.00} was charged to it.

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 monetary relief