Consumer complaint received 2025-06-08 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
I am filing a formal complaint against my credit card issuer ( XXXXCiti ) for refusing to reverse charges totaling approximately {$4000.00} to {$5000.00} plus interest charges placed on my XXXX card for XXXX Ads , as part of a broader {$32000.00} ad billing incident. These charges occurred during a period when my XXXX Ads account was compromised and misused, and even XXXX acknowledged the issue in writing but failed to refund the promised credits. 

To put this in perspective, my typical daily ad spend is between {$30.00} and {$50.00}. That has been consistent throughout my years of business. In XX/XX/year>, over {$11000.00} was drained from my account in just XXXX days due to malicious triggering of dormant keywords and targeted overrunning the ads. I have run my business for over 15 years, and I have never used personal credit cards to fund advertisinguntil this event. I only used personal cards such as the XXXX store card and the XXXX card because XXXX promised a refund for the invalid activity. I trusted them and took the risk. XXXX did not keep its word. 

I did not charge the full {$32000.00} to the XXXX cardthat amount was spread across multiple credit cards. However, XXXX/Citi handled my dispute the worst, refusing to acknowledge the problem even after receiving documentation that XXXX admitted system failures and promised credits. 

Between XXXX and XX/XX/year>, a hacker infiltrated my XXXX Ads account and began quietly embedding thousands of irrelevant and low-quality keywords. Many were in foreign languages or completely disconnected from my business. Then, between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, those keywords were triggered all at once, burning through thousands of dollars in spend. XXXX flagged the issue but failed to stop it in timeand worse, never removed the embedded keywords. 

Importantly, there is no capability in the XXXX Ads user interface that would allow a business to voluntarily spend {$11000.00} in XXXX day, nor did I ever attempt to do so. XXXX imposes strict gatekeeping controls on daily budgets and spend thresholds. What occurred was not triggered by any user actionit was a system-level failure or compromise that completely bypassed normal advertiser limits. 

The damage was irreversible. My account was so deeply corrupted by those keywords that it never recovered. After trying unsuccessfully to fix it, I had to permanently close the account. I lost both the investment and my ability to advertise through that platform. 

Despite all of this, Citibank denied my dispute and even reported my account as delinquent to the credit bureaus, severely damaging my credit score. This was not a billing misunderstanding or dispute over valueit was platform abuse, automation failure, and mishandling, backed by the merchants own written admission. 

I am attaching the formal dispute letter I previously sent to XXXX as supporting documentation herein. 

Im seeking reversal of the charges placed on my XXXX card related to this incident, as well as removal of the negative credit reporting. The documentation, XXXX emails, and my formal dispute clearly support my claim.

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 explanation