Consumer complaint received 2025-05-12 00:00:00
Product: Credit 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.
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
XX/XX/XXXX I received a phone call from Citi Fraud Department ( XXXX ) was reached out by Citi to call the fraud department and was informed that my account has been compromised and needs immediate work. I was introduced to an agent named XXXX XXXX. I was in the subway, so I lost signal and the agent contacted me using a different number ( XXXX ). He introduced himself that he was from XXXX Fraud Department Senior Fraud Analyst. He told me to stay on the line as he may need me for putting additional security on my account. I waited an hour and we ended the call with him telling me that he will call me back again tomorrow. At this point, my balance was about {$1500.00}. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX would regularly reach me to work on my account. He would ask me to turn on the Call-Forwarding feature, which is a function that allows incoming calls to be forwarded to a different number. As he was working on my account, he would ask me to read the security code that was texted to my cell phone. I have complied with him throughout the process as I hoped that the issue would be resolved promptly. When I asked him about the issue, he mentioned that there were fraudulent charges being made from overseas and there is credit that is being used without me noticing or being reflected on the credit statement. He also told me not to respond or answer any unfamiliar phone numbers as the calls may be from fraudsters attempting to breach security. In addition, he emphasized that his team is the control-tower for dealing with fraud and scams and thus, it was only his team that can resolve the fraud. 
XX/XX/XXXX I saw another batch of fraudulent charges. And I felt the need to report the matter and have it be resolved despite XXXX warning. So, I called the number on the back of the card ( XXXX ) and was connected with another agent. she asked me if I wanted to dispute the fraudulent charges. I asked her to do that because I wanted the charges to be disputed and hopefully from my account immediately. 
XXXX A week has gone by and I still saw a stream of fraudulent charges being made, so I thought it is necessary to work with XXXX, who worked on my account originally. When I got in touch with him, he informed me that the case has been transferred over to another team. I asked him if there was a way to bring back the case to his team. He also told me that he was going to change the password on my account and I was essentially locked out of my account from this point. In addition, he instructed me to not accidentally log-in or use apple pay. Thus, I deleted all applications for my Citi Credit Card from this point and was not checking what I was being charged throughout this process. 
XX/XX/XXXX On this day, I realized that CitiCard took out {$2700.00} because I had my AutoPay set up on my account. As I knew that my card balance was only about {$1500.00}, I asked XXXX that if I can get excess of {$1200.00} back. He told me that he will submit a request on behalf of me to receive a check of {$1200.00}. A few days later, he came back and told me that the request was rejected, but told me that this will all be resolved once the case is closed. Thus, at this point my credit balance was - {$1200.00}. On this day, he also mentioned that it would likely take about XXXX weeks to get the issue resolved. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX would call me randomly and at XXXX point he used a different number ( XXXX ). He would let me know that a letter has been sent to my house. And I would need to read him the reference numbers that is written on the letter to proceed ( * this can be provided upon request ). After rounds of mails, he told me that a new card has been sent and I should give him a callback when I receive it in the mail. I did and he asked me for a full card number, CVV and expiration date. He told me that the card is only to verify that my address is correct. When I logged into my account to make a credit card payment, I realized that the charges have not stopped and my credit card balance has now mounted to about {$3000.00} dollars. I asked XXXX why there are still charges being made while he was working on my account, he mentioned that the charges were made in the past, but he assured me that I will eventually get the credits back and I will not be liable for any of the fraudulent charges as the card was physically in my possession. I was also concerned that my XXXX score would be affected, but I decided that making minimum payment dues would take care of the score. I believed that Citi would take necessary actions and had full faith in Citibanks capability in resolving the issue and thus, did not report to the credit bureaus that my account is currently experiencing fraudulent activity. 
o During this time, I did also wonder if there is a possibility of XXXX being the actual scammer because fraudulent charges were still occurring after new cards were issued. So, I looked for ways to verify that he was Citi Fraud Analyst, but whenever I asked him questions such as, what is your company ID? What is your full name?, he would respond saying that the information is not for disclosure. However, I thought that a scammer would not be able to send Citi mails or send me new card. I eventually decided that I would continue working with him, hoping that this would be resolved. 
Early XXXX XXXX informed me that they are now at the final stage of resolving the case. He sent me a second new card. When I received the new card, I tried to reach XXXX, but the number that I had been using to get in touch with him was no longer active. Thus, I had to wait for XXXX to reach me. Fortunately, XXXX did reach me and he asked me for the full card number, CVV and expiration date. I also asked him why the case is taking longer and he responded by explaining that there were complications due to the charges being made overseas. I trusted him and I asked him to provide me with the password for my credit card account as I wanted to make my payment to ensure that my credit card would not jeopardized. When I logged into my account, I found out that my balance was now at approximately {$7000.00}. He also informed me that the case is close to being resolved and I thought security on my account is now enhanced. 
XXXX XXXX I was notified via text message that asked me to verify the suspicious charges. I have not been using my card since XXXX which was when I first experienced fraudulent activity on my account. I contemplated how to report this and, since I was not able to reach XXXX, I contacted the number on the back of my card ( XXXX ). I was connected with a representative and she asked me if I wanted receive a new card. I thought it was necessary to take immediate action to prevent any additional charges and decided to receive a new card. Subsequently, I informed XXXX about this and he informed me that the process is back to the beginning because I was in touch with another agent and the case is now transferred to a different team. Considering that this problem persists and does not show any improvement, I believe I will continuously experience concerns using the account. I also want to emphasize the fact that I have never used my card since XXXX and the physical cards are still in my possession.

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