Consumer complaint received 2026-06-23 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem — 
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CT

Complaint narrative:
I was defrauded by an on-line fraudster in XX/XX/XXXX. Two wire transfers were sent under false pretenses, totaling {$4800.00} : XXXX XXXX XXXX : XXXX for {$4500.00} ; REF NUM : XXXX for {$300.00}. Once I discovered the wire transfers were sent under fraudulent pretenses on XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted the fraud securities team at Citibank. It opened the following 2 cases to investigate the transfers made by me when I was defrauded : Citibank case # XXXX ( {$4500.00} ) ; Citibank case XXXX XXXX ( {$300.00} ). This has also been referred to in correspondence under Citi Reference Number : XXXX Over the course of the next year, I had numerous calls with the fraud securities team, some of which are referred below. In addition, as per the instruction of Citibank, I opened a criminal case with the XXXX Police Department, Detective XXXX, who has been extremely helpful and conscientious ( case # XXXX ). Her contact information is as follows : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Police Department XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CT XXXX XXXX ext. XXXX The investigation resulted in an arrest warrant for XXXX XXXX for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. During the investigation, it was discovered by Detective XXXX that the wire transfer funds were sent to XXXX XXXX XXXX, but the account number for the wire transfers was incorrect and therefore the funds were deposited into XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX general ledger account ( which appeared to be called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). XXXX XXXX XXXX ID # XXXX was assigned to the investigation/request for banking documents associated with the wire transfers. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Legal Operations Servicing Specialist replied to inquiries by Detective XXXX as follow : Please be advised that the account referenced is an internal settlement account used for institutional processing purposes. As such, it does not belong to an individual or external entity and does not contain customer-identifiable information or transactional history in the conventional senses. Attached is a copy of the wire transactions. Should you require further clarification or assistance, please let me know. The below are XXXX XXXX XXXX transaction reference numbers that were provided to Detective XXXX in relation to the 2 wire transfers. XXXX XXXX XXXX TRN REF # : XXXX for {$4500.00}, SND DATE : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX REF # : XXXX for {$300.00}, SND DATE : XX/XX/XXXX The XXXX XXXX Legal Operations Servicing Specialist asked that any future communications to recall these funds back to me reference this information and reference the numbers provided above. Further, per the advice of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Legal Operations Servicing Specialist, Citibank would need to provide to XXXX XXXX a hold harmless ( associated with the recall of funds requests from one bank to another ), which the person directed should be sent via email to Hold Harmless Requests XXXX. I have repeatedly conveyed this information to Citibank and asked that the bank send the requested communication to the email address provided by XXXX XXXX. I have further asked that they provide a copy to me, so that I can verify that the recall of funds was properly requested and evaluate any responses from XXXX XXXX. To date, Citibank has refused to confirm that it has made any such communications and has refused to provide me of copies of any correspondence either from them or from XXXX XXXX. Some of my communications with the Citibank fraud services team are summarized below. I spoke with XXXX at Citibank, on XX/XX/XXXX, who I believe was a fraud supervisor, and conveyed to her the information set forth above, which had been related to me by Detective XXXX, explaining that the bank account numbers provided by the scammer were not valid, and as a result, the funds wired to XXXX XXXX never were delivered to the scammer. Instead, they were put into an account that was the banks account that was an internal settlement account, and explained the steps that would need to be followed by Citibank to recall these funds, as further set forth immediately above. I then spoke again to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, and she asked that I give Citibank 90 days to complete its investigation. On XX/XX/XXXX, I then spoke with XXXX, a wire supervisor, and at the advice of Detective XXXX, asked whether Citibank had sent the hold harmless request to XXXX XXXX fraud department requesting the return of funds. I advised that such a request should go to XXXX. I asked that I be sent a copy of the letter. I have spoken with many other Citibank personnel on many different occasions, all of whom have been unable or unwilling to help in any way. On the advice of XXXX, a Citibank manager in the Incident Reporting Unit ( IRU ) group, I spoke with on XX/XX/XXXX, I asked again that Citibank re-look at the 2 cases I opened on XX/XX/XXXX, which were transferred to the IRU on or about XX/XX/XXXX. I asked that Citibank communicate with XXXX XXXX XXXX and ask them to send the money they are holding back to Citibank. I again provided the instructions given to me by Detective XXXX of the XXXX Police Department, which summarized her conversation with a member of the legal operations team at XXXX XXXX XXXX and provided instructions to Citibank as to how to request the return of the funds I wired to a ( non-existent ) account at XXXX XXXX, which funds I again explained were being held at XXXX XXXX in a general ledger account awaiting the request from Citibank to return them. I have repeatedly asked for copies of all communications to and from XXXX XXXX, and Citibank has refused to send me copies of such communications. The Incident Reporting Team provided no help whatsoever. Rather, I received a letter denying my appeal and stating there is no wire fraud, so my request is denied. I had been very clear with the Citibank personnel that I was not alleging wire fraud, but rather that I had been defrauded and that I needed the help of Citibank to recall the funds that were being held by XXXX XXXX in a segregated account. Given the apparent failure of Citibank to send the requested hold harmless letter to XXXX XXXX XXXX, and in an effort to determine independently whether the hold harmless email was valid, on XX/XX/XXXX, Detective XXXX sent an email to the hold harmless email address provided by XXXX XXXX XXXX -- XXXX. She received a response ( although minimal ) and let me know that XXXX XXXX XXXX is requesting a " fraud wire recall '' along with a hold harmless request. I have conveyed this information to Citibank and as far as I know, they have not acted on the request. They have refused to tell me if they have done anything. In summary, it seems based on what Detective XXXX has learned by speaking to legal operations at XXXX XXXX under the search warrant she had sent, XXXX XXXX is holding the money I wired. Its beyond the pale to think that Citibank cant do the necessary actions to get these funds returned on my behalf. Detective XXXX was able to provide the critical information within only a few weeks of starting her investigation. I am concerned that the ineffectiveness and ineptitude of the Citibank team may have prejudiced my ability to get my money back, despite XXXX XXXX willingness to consider sending such funds months ago. I want to be very clear that at this point, the issue is not whether there was fraud or not. Given the advice from XXXX XXXX XXXX, the underlying transaction that led me to request that funds be wired to XXXX XXXX XXXX is irrelevant. What this is now about is simply Citibank reaching out to XXXX XXXX XXXXank and requesting that they return the funds that were sent under fraudulent pretenses, which XXXX XXXX XXXX advised Det. XXXX are being held in a general ledger account and were not dispersed to the fraud suspect. Only someone from Citibank can request the funds be returned, as they will not transfer the funds back based on my request. If Citibank has already made the request to XXXX XXXX, then I need to file a banking complaint against XXXX XXXX XXXX. But given Citibanks refusal to tell me if they have even made the request of XXXX XXXX, or to provide copies of any correspondence, it seemed most efficient to begin by filing the instant complaint against Citibank.

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