Consumer complaint received 2024-02-13
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (MD)

On Monday, XX/XX/2024 I received a text message that stated Citi Alert Debit Card XXXX. Did you attempt {$300.00} at ATM XXXX XXXX XXXX on XXXX? YES=1, NO=2 or Sign On to Citi Mobile App : Citi.com/CitiMobileApp . Reply STOP to Opt-Out. As a result, I replied XXXX, which meant no. I then received a text stating This transaction has been declined. An associate will be in touch shortly. Meanwhile, I checked my online banking and noticed that there was some unusual activity on the account. So I called Citibank and told them I didnt authorize any purchases and they proceeded to turn my card off and send me a new one, which made me lose online banking access for the remainder of the day. On that same day, I received a miss call from the citi fraud specialist from the number XXXX which is indeed Citi banks general support number. Due to my phone being on do not disturb I missed the call. On the following day, Tuesday XX/XX/2024 I received a text stating A citi fraud prevention specialist did attempt to reach you on XXXX in regards to this matter. Would you like to schedule this callback for a more appropriate time? reply Y ( YES ) or N ( NO ) txt msg & data rates may apply. Me not thinking anything of it, I had them call me. At this time, they called me from that same number listed above, which I reiterate is citi banks actual number. Some guy comes on the phone and proceeds to ask me questions. This person by the name of XXXX was able to activate my new card. He then proceeded to tell me that it appears someone is trying to illegally wire money from my account. So I proceeded to login to my online banking at which time I see that a {$7500.00} transfer was made from my savings to my checking, that I did not authorize. This person proceeds to tell me that it appears that someone is trying to steal my identity and is going through all of these transactions that were attempted, to the point where they said they were going to set me up a new account due to all of this fraudulent activity that was appearing on my account. This person then proceeds to work me through what he referred to as a reverse wire so he had me wire him a total of {$16000.00} in increments of {$7000.00}, {$6900.00}, and {$2200.00} all of which were supposed to be getting transferred to my new account that he was making me due to the fraudulent activity. By the time I got off the phone it had been over XXXX hours and I had been wiped clean thinking that I was actually being helped. But I was actually being robbed on the phone and didnt know it. They were sending me specific numbers and saying that they were XXXX time reversal codes. On Wednesday, XX/XX/2024, I went into Citibank branch in XXXX, Md and told them what had happened to me, in which they indeed confirmed that I had been scammed. The lady at the branch immediately called the fraud department. The fraud specialist partially took my statement and told the lady at the branch to have me fill out affidavits for each wire transfer. They closed that account and opened me up a new one. I received mail today ( XX/XX/2024 ) stating that they denied my claim because they said my device was used during the transaction and I authenticated the request, which is COMPLETELY WRONG. I have NEVER pulled money out of my savings account which is why I was able to have {$15000.00} in there untouched. I was a victim of scam and Citibank is not trying to help me get my money back!