Consumer complaint received 2024-09-28 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NJ

Complaint narrative:
This incident happened in XXXX with Citibank. I've never used XXXX in the past and didn't have it activated, but someone had setup XXXX and took money out from my Citibank account ; totalling {$1100.00}. I've called Citibank many times throughout the years and have not been successful in getting my money back. The dispute department just sends me a letter stating they believe there were no fraudulent activity and close the case. I've applealed many times as well. Reaching out to XXXX wasn't helpful either. They said to talk to my bank. 

Below is the letter I've sent numerous times to Citibank. 
Appeal XXXX I have been a long time client of CitiBank, over 25 years.

Theres been some hiccups along the way, but this time around has been the worst experience ever with Citibank.

There were some fraudulent activities in the total amount of {$1100.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, that I have not yet been awarded the amount back for.

Please see below to get the full story so that you may re-investigate. 
On or around XX/XX/XXXX, Citibank Fraud Dept. called me on my cell phone regarding some suspicious charges from XXXX, XXXX and XXXX, initiated in California. 
I told them they are not my transactions and that I am in XXXX. As we were on the phone, more XXXX payment notification kept on coming into my phone. I informed the representative that I have never used XXXX. They reassured me that it will all be removed. We were on the phone close to 40min and hanged up with a promise with a new debit card to be sent to me. 

I waited for a few days with no debit card mailed to me. I called back a week later, only to get a representative overseas telling me that the debit card was never ordered. With the miscommunication, I asked for a XXXX representative, which then I was transferred to. New card was finally ordered and delivered, but now only to find out that my account has been frozen. During this time, all my automated bills were bouncing since I was not informed that the bank will be freezing my account. I also didnt have access to online banking because I didnt have my new card yet. Therefore, the account went unmonitored for a while. 

When I finally received my card and had access to my account, I realized that all of the fraudulent activities went onto my other account ( XXXX ) from ( XXXX ). I couldnt believe my eyes!!!! So I called back again only to reach overseas customer service rep and had them open this case # XXXX. Ive called many times after this only to find out that now the case is closed. Please provide me with a copy of the investigation and re-open this case. The following transactions were not authorized by me. Ive never used XXXX and I do not know this person to whom it was sent to. If you check my account ending XXXX, you can see that on XXXX there were similar transactions via XXXX to the same person which was part of the fraud that I got my money back for. The below XXXX charges under account ending XXXX should be credited back to me along with the vendors fee in association with the automatic bill payment that didnt go through and I was charged a fee for. 

XXXX XXXX : {$29.00} XXXX XXXX  XXXX : {$15.00} XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX {$35.00} XXXX XXXXXXXX : {$20.00} Insurance : {$300.00} TOTAL IN FEES : XXXX Please credit my account in the amount of : {$1500.00} ( Fees {$390.00} + XXXX {$1100.00} ) XXXX Transactions on ( XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX - {$270.00} XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$260.00} XXXXXXXX XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$88.00} XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$86.00} XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$86.00} XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$84.00} XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$82.00} XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$77.00} XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$60.00} XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$50.00} XXXX XXXX Please do not close the case without calling me. Its been very frustrating that I can never speak with the investigation team directly. 
Also, please send me the copy of the first investigation findings. 

*** Please also note the attachment " XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. As I stated earlier, the intitial transactions were all being charged at XXXX, which then got charged to the linked account XXXX. As you can see on this attachment, there were XXXX XXXX charges for {$190.00} and {$250.00} to the same XXXX XXXX. These were credited back on XX/XX/XXXX. So Citibank knows these were fraudulent charges and credited back my funds. Therefore, I am more confused why they can't return my money for the rest of the transactions totalling {$1100.00} plus {$390.00} in fees. 

*** If you have any questions, please reach out to me as I would really like to resolve this issue and close my citibank account. Thank you.

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