Consumer complaint received 2024-08-06
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (NC)

I called Citibank on XX/XX/XXXX regarding charges made with my Citibank check card at XXXX that were not authorized by me, totaling {$4500.00}. A dispute was opened by a representative that, I'm sorry to say, I felt like wasn't a native English speaker and didn't quite seem to understand me, but that may or may not play a role here. 

These charges started on XX/XX/XXXX and there was even a credit from XXXX for {$270.00}, which I also disputed, because none of these transactions were done by me. 

I do recall an email as well as phone call by XXXX sometime a few weeks prior regarding an old XXXX account and them wanting to verify some information and transactions. After verifying my information I informed them that I had not used that account in a while and to close it. I didn't think anything more about it until I noticed the charges on my Citibank account. 

Interestingly enough, on XX/XX/year>, so nine days after calling Citibank to dispute the charges by XXXX, I received a text message from Citibank 's fraud alerts asking if I attempted a purchase on XX/XX/year> at XXXX. I responded with NO, to which Citi replied with " We will attempt to call you to open a fraud dispute. '' I mean, I don't even know what to say about that. Almost a month after the first fraudulent transaction a text message from Citi asking if I made the transaction and that after we already have a dispute open. 

I called Citi 's fraud department and the person I spoke to, while courteous and friendly, also wasn't sure about why that happened. 

I then received a letter/notice on XX/XX/XXXX, dated XX/XX/XXXX telling me that Citi concluded their investigation and determined that I am responsible for the transactions in the amount of {$4500.00}. I immediately called the number given in the letter, which turned out to be the generic customer service line in a XXXX XXXX XXXX where I had to be verified and explain everything to only to be told I had to be transferred. I was then transferred to someone in the fraud department, again, XXXX XXXX XXXX, who stated they didn't know anything about this XX/XX/XXXX letter and that my dispute was very much active and being worked on with no results or determination made. I was told to essentially just ignore the notice in my online banking portal. This person also kept talking about two different disputes being open and one she could see, but the other she couldn't, or something to that effect, but either way, for me to just wait for official mail. 

Yesterday I received the above mentioned letter from XX/XX/XXXX via US mail and I simply don't know what to think anymore. I also received a letter in the mail regarding the credit from XXXX and that was supposedly resolved and the credit was removed, since I stated it wasn't done by me. So if it accepted that the credit wasn't authorized by me, I fail to understand why the conclusion isn't that the debits also weren't authorized by me. 

Dealing with these foreign call centers is extremely frustrating, because while they may want to help and are often friendly, they simply follow scripts and don't seem to fully grasp situations and no matter how often you describe something, there seems to always be something lost in translation. 

If you require additional details and or information, please let me know.