Consumer complaint received 2021-03-01
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (SC)

Complaint:
Citi has refused to remove a fraudulent charge from my MasterCard account. 
Date of charge : XX/XX/XXXX Amount : {$50.00} ( a XX/XX/XXXX swipe ) Payee : XXXX XXXX XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a text message from Citi card asking is I made a {$200.00} charge at XXXX XXXX. I indicated that this charge was not made by me, and it never appeared on my account. When I went online to check my card, I saw two additional unauthorized transactions, a XXXXXX/XX/XXXX transaction ( dont remember the Payee ) and the above referenced charge to XXXX XXXX XXXX. The XXXX charge had a dispute charge pushbutton under the detail. I selected it and the charge was removed from my account. The XXXX XXXX XXXX detail did not have the dispute pushbutton. 

XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Citi via their online chatbot. 
Indicated to bot that the {$50.00} charge was fraud and asked them to cancel the card. 
XX/XX/XXXX Was transferred to live chat with XXXX. 
XXXX  response : Please dont worry. The advisor you spoke to has taken care of the account. 
XX/XX/XXXX Saw that the {$50.00} charge was still on my account. 
Contacted Citi via their online chatbot. 
XX/XX/XXXX Was transferred to live chat with XXXX. 
XXXX response : I have checked your account and see that the dispute was already filed for this transaction and credit was applied to your old account and the credit will be transferred to your new account within few business days. 
XX/XX/XXXX Saw that the {$50.00} charge was still on my account. 
XXXX Citi via their online chatbot. 
XX/XX/XXXX Was transferred to live chat with XXXX. 
XXXX response : I am so sorry. In most cases a security credit for equivalent charge will be provided in 14 days from the date of reporting. But in your case, it has been longer. The dispute and credit will be handled by Security team and I am attaching their contact number. You can get in touch with them to track the status of dispute. The number for our Security team is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. This department is available Monday-Friday XXXX EST. 
I placed a call to this number while I still had XXXX engaged through live chat. I was only able to access a useless recording. 
My response to XXXX : Well, that call was a waste of time. Recording says that it may take up to two billing cycles to remove. What gives? 

XXXX : OK, let me provide you the best solution here. Please allow me a moment. I have sent a referral to disputes team to look into it. Dont worry it wont take 2 billing cycles. It should be done in a week ( maximum ). If the credit does not appear even after a week, you can email us. 

ME : Thank you, XXXX. What email address should I use? 

XXXX : The email address is XXXX. Please include merchant name, charge value, date and reason of dispute. 
XX/XX/XXXX Received a document, posted to my account, saying that the dispute has been closed and confirming that I no longer disputed the charge. 
XX/XX/XXXX Responded to XXXX with the following message : Good morning. I have been attempting for several weeks to have a fraudulent charge removed from my XX/XX/XXXXCard. 
The charge of {$50.00} was made XX/XX/XXXX, a XXXX Swipe to XXXX XXXX XXXX Ice Cream. I DID NOT MAKE THIS CHARGE NOR DID I AUTHORIZE IT. On the same date, your fraud unit alerted me via text of a fraudulent charge to XXXX something. I responded to the text that the charge was not mine. It never appeared on my account. I went online immediately and found two other fraudulent charges. One was for XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. I clicked on the item and disputed it ; it has since disappeared from my account. The other, the above referenced XXXX XXXX XXXX charge, did not have the Dispute button under item details. I did an online chat. The old card was cancelled and a new card was issued, but the fraudulent XXXX XXXX XXXX dispute transferred to the new card. I have since chatted with your online Bot and customer service reps several times. The most recent was with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX. He assured me that the charge would be removed. But TODAY, I received a Resolution of Dispute message saying that I no longer disputed this fraudulent charge. THIS IS INCORRECT! I did NOT make this charge. I did NOT authorize this charge. I INSIST THAT IT BE REMOVED FROM MY ACCOUNT! 

XX/XX/XXXX I telephoned the fraud line at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX (? ) assured me that resolution was forthcoming. 
XX/XX/XXXX Received a response to my email. 
A quick update on your dispute. We wanted to provide you with an update for your {$50.00} dispute with XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX VT. Since you reported the card number used for the disputed transaction lost or stolen, we forwarded your information to our Security Department for further review.The assigned Security Associate will contact you if they need additional information. 

MY NOTE : The card was not lost or stolen. It never left my possession. The transaction was fraudulent. I do not know how my account number was retrieved by the fraudulent party. 

XX/XX/XXXX Saw that the {$50.00} charge was still on my account. Contacted Citi via their online chatbot. 
ME : Have been attempting to dispute a fraudulent charge for many weeks now. Still appears on my account. When I click on Dispute Charge, get this msg : Were very sorry were having technical issues. Please try again. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience. [ XXXX ]. 
The chatbot connected me to representative XXXX. 
XXXX : Hi, hope you are doing well. Welcome to Citi Live chat. We appreciate the opportunity to provide your banking services. I got your query. I will be happy to check it for you. Please allow me a few moment to review your account, your patience is highly appreciated. My goal is to satisfy all of your financial needs. Can I have the amount of the charge you are referring to. 
ME : Thank you. The charge is {$50.00}, Posted XX/XX/XXXX for XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX : I have got your query. Let me go ahead and check that for you. Please allow me a few minutes while I review your account. // Thank you for your patience. As I can see the the charge is on the old card and it is flagged on the old card, and that is the reason you are not able to dispute it on the new card. This charge is under the investigation and disputed the charge. Citi has initiated a dispute on this and we are looking into this. Do not worry about the available credit, Citi will post a security credit and it takes a few days to be posted to the account, as it is the investigation so that is the reason it is taking time [ sic ]. Please do not worry. Citi is here for you and will put all efforts yo get your funds back [ sic ]. Once the dispute is resolved in your favor the security credit will be posted as permanent credit. Please be rest assured! 
XX/XX/XXXX The only outstanding amount on my card is the {$50.00} disputed charge. It is still showing on my account, so I placed another call to the fraud line at XXXX. Spoke with a young lady whose accent was so heavy we had serious difficulty in communicating ( I had to spell my name numerous times. ) She requested the account number of the bank account I use to pay my bill online. I had to answer a security question as well. I finally asked to be transferred to a supervisor. The supervisor reviewed my account, said she could not determine why this dispute had not been resolved and thought the best remedy would be to cancel the card that had been issued to replace the card that was used for the fraudulent transaction. 
XX/XX/XXXX New card has been issued AND THE FRAUDULENT CHARGE WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE NEW CARD. I am being billed for the fraudulent amount plus late fees and interest. I am receiving text messages from Citi about my missing payment. 

I have contacted Citi nine times concerning this fraudulent charge. It still remains on my account. I have been a Citi card holder since XXXX. Never had an issue until now. 

What can I do to resolve this matter? 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, SC XXXX XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX 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 monetary relief