Consumer complaint received 2024-07-03 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Problem with rewards from credit card
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: TN

Complaint narrative:
Dear Sir or Madam, We have been with our credit card company Citi for 18 years, using this card for business and personal. Last XXXX a large number of rewards points were attempted to be used by an unauthorized party. Although it was caught in time, Citi froze our rewards account and have failed to return a large number of our points. Below is a better description of our dilemma : Cardholder names and contact information : Primary XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Citicard : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX We logged in to our Citi Rewards Acct and noticed pending purchase activity which we did not initiate. Our points balance just a few days prior, on XXXX was XXXX, valued at approximately {$40000.00}. Upon logging in, we noticed a pending purchase for ( XXXX ) {$500.00} Macy 's Gift Cards which also included expedited shipping. This purchase amounted to XXXX points. Luckily it was still pending, and upon immediately contacting customer service, they indicated that nothing had shipped. We did a quick screen print of this unauthorized order which is attached ( i.e. printout of fraudulent order ). Looking further at our account, we noticed that the perpetrator had somehow changed our address, home and cell phone numbers, along with our contact email and account passwords. It was a complete mess trying to prove who we were because the thieves had changed everything. What's most puzzling to us is that we have a XXXX step authorization enabled on this account. We were surprised to find that we received no notifications regarding a change of account information, or most importantly the {$40000.00} purchase that had been made. A ticket was opened, and Customer Service gave us XXXX # XXXX. The account was locked for safety, and they indicated that this would resolve within XXXX business days. We were just happy that by sheer luck we had caught it in time. 

XXXX We were able to see that XXXX points of the XXXX in the attempted purchase had been restored. We called Customer Service to inquire about the remaining balance of our points. They indicated that this would resolve within 3-5 additional business days. They gave us another XXXX # XXXX. 

We continued to watch our account for another 6 weeks but nothing had changed. With our subsequent follow-up phone calls, the last being around XX/XX/XXXX, their tone became more negative. Requests to speak with a supervisor were even denied. They indicated that there was nobody who would speak with us until the investigation was over. We do not have the specific dates of these calls, but there were approximately 4 of them. 

Almost seven months have now passed and our Reward Points still have not been restored. We have also received no updates. In watching our account, it appears that we are still accumulating points on new purchases. Our points balance is now around XXXX although our account is locked and we are still unable to use them. Although we could argue about how they failed to keep our account safe, we simply request that they return the XXXX points and to unlock our rewards account. We have been Citi customers since XXXX and have been holding these points to use once we sold our business, which we recently did. 

XXXX update : I called the Citi Fraud Dept again to make one last attempt and spoke with " XXXX '' XXXX. She said that our notes were " archived '' so she couldn't pull them up. She said to call back in XXXX hours when those notes should be available to them. Pretty usual non-response but I will follow-up as they recommended just to rule it out. I will advise with their response. 

XXXX I called back and spoke with multiple representatives. After an hour, I finally got to a XXXX and her supervisor XXXX. They indicated that there was no resolution and that they were going to open a new case. I asked for the case number and she indicated that she did not yet have that for me at this time. I requested a call back with that number and she indicated that she would ask but could not guarantee. All very frustrating. 

Please let me know if there is other information that I can provide on this Thanks, XXXX XXXX encl Attachments : Credit Card Agreement Credit Card Statements for XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX showing our current rewards balances Printout of fraudulent order

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 non-monetary relief