Consumer complaint received 2024-06-07
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. (MA)

To Whom it Concerns : On XX/XX/year> I received an email stating that my debit card ending in XXXX was billed for the attached invoice. The invoice was for the amount of {$600.00} for security software ordered by a person from XXXX. The invoice has a note stating that if this is a fraudulent purchase to call XXXX. When I called the number and explained why the purchase was fraudulent the person said that he agreed and would reimburse me. They asked me to go online in my bank account. When I did, they somehow go into my computer and set up a transaction screen. The person then asked me to type {$300.00} in the screen, but when I did that, it went into my checking account as {$30000.00}. They asked me to repay the amount less {$1000.00} ( {$29000.00} ) by wiring it to a foreign bank in XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
I went to the bank branch in XXXX, MA to repay the money using an international wire transfer following the instructions give to me by the scammers. I told the teller that the transfer was for purchasing property as I was told by the scammers. The wire was prepared and sent to the XXXX XXXX XXXX, but a week went by and the scammers still did not have their money. The XXXX XXXX XXXX  did not accept the money and so it was re-deposited into my checking account. The scammers frantically called me insisting that I repay them either in cash or to wire the money to a different bank in XXXX. I went back to the same branch teller with new instructions given to me by the scammers for the XXXX XXXX. This time the wire went through. 
About a week later as I was checking my bank accounts, I noticed that my home equity account was maxed out so I went the same branch bank to inquire why the line of credit was exhausted. When they looked into it, they told me the XXXX transfers were made for {$27000.00} and {$3000.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. I then realized that I had been scammed. The scammers somehow got into my home equity account and set up the transfer amount of {$30000.00} as I typed in {$300.00} into my checking account. I then showed the teller the XXXX XXXX invoice and explained what happened. She then closed my checking account, and filed a fraudulent claim against the wire transfer to the XXXX XXXX XXXX. This was a mistake because the XXXX XXXX XXXX did not accept the money, so the bank investigation said no harm was done and reinstated the {$30000.00} in my home equity account by debiting my checking account. The fraud claim against the XXXX XXXX  was filed on XX/XX/year>, but by then the money was no longer in the XXXX XXXX  account and could not be reclaimed. 
I feel that Citizens Bank could have been more diligent with these wire transfers. The teller never asked me if I new the person I was sending the money too. She should have gotten a red flag in her mind when the XXXX XXXX XXXX did not accept the money, and been more diligent when I went to her with the second wiring instructions to the XXXX XXXX. I had never sent an international wire transfer in my life, and after the fact she shared with me that these wire transfers are fraught with fraud. I also feel that if the teller had filed the fraud claim on the XXXX XXXX account in XXXX instead of the XXXX XXXX XXXX  account, we would have had a better chance for recovering the funds. I expect Citizens Bank to erase the debit in my old checking account ending in XXXX. 
Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX