Consumer complaint received 2024-05-09 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account — Can't close your account
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: PA

Complaint narrative:
I contacted CitiBank as a result of a letter that they sent to me asking me to contact them as a result of suspected fraud. 

The following is a letter I wrote and follow up details to date as the problem is still not resolved. 


CitiBank XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXXXXXX XX/XX/XXXX RE : Fraudulent Charges Made against XXXX ( Previously Acct : XXXX ) Dear Citibank, Consider this my Affidavit regarding the details of the above matter. 
I have been a victim of identity theft, this fact is on file with all credit bureaus, the XX/XX/XXXXXXXX police, the Federal Trade Commission and XX/XX/XXXX 

The Citibank card noted above was issued as a replacement for card XXXX. The replacement card is in my possession and has never been activated by me or my spouse. There should be no way to use this card as the new account number is only known by me and Citibank. 

Unfortunately, somehow, this card was used to make many unauthorized charges recently even though it was never activated. The charges amount to approximately {$27000.00}, {$9800.00} of the total were processed. I/We never made or authorized any of these charges as the card has not been activated by me, the account owner. 

I contacted CitiBank immediately upon receiving a letter alerting me of fraudulent activity. I spoke with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX reviewed the charges with me and confirmed that all of the charges that were made to the UNACTIVATED Card were in fact not made my me and were fraudulent. 

XXXX then reviewed my profile and found that this account had been modified to add a fake authorized user. XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX who has a cell phone XXXX, further there was an address added to the account :XX/XX/XXXXXXXX and a fake XXXX mail XXXX I requested that Citibank removeXX/XX/XXXXas I do not know him and never authorized him to have access to my account. 

All of the above information is NOT ASSOCIATED with me and should be investigated as this person is committing crimes against CitiBank and its customer. 

I asked XXXX to permanently close accountXX/XX/XXXX and to NOT open a replacement account and NOT send me any new cards. 

I asked XXXX to update my account by updating all information in the system to the below correct information : Email :XX/XX/XXXXPhone XX/XX/XXXXAddress : XX/XX/XXXX These charges to the un-activated account in my name have been reported to the XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Police. 

I have also reported this activity to the Federal Trade Commission and am keeping my case updated. 

The following is a detailed timeline : XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from Citibank regarding suspicious activity associated with my account. ( Letter enclosed Reference Number XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX We called to report fraudulent charges noted above and spoke to XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX reviewed the charges and asked if any of them were made or authorized by me. I responded No I did not make or authorize any of these charges. 

XX/XX/XXXX I asked How is it possible that a card that has not been activated is able to be used?. XXXX politely said that he did not know how this could happen. 

XX/XX/XXXX I asked, If this new card was issued to me, and I and Citibank are the only ones who know the account number. How could someone else use the number to make changes to the account by adding themselves as an authorized user and then begin using the card number to purchase things up to XXXX?. XXXX politely said that he did not know how this could happen. 

XX/XX/XXXX I asked how the account credit limit was increased from XXXX to at least XXXX without my approval as I did not make this request? ( Previous account XXXX had a limit of XXXX, XXXX was charged ) XXXX politely said that he did not know how this could happen. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX indicated that he marked ALL of the charges to account XXXX as Fraudulent. 

XX/XX/XXXX Per my request XXXX told me that he permanently cancelled account XXXX and promised not to set up a replacement account or issue any new cards. 

XX/XX/XXXX I then asked XXXX to send me via mail a written record of the call which he never did. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX confirmed that the charges would be removed from the account and that the account was permanently closed. XXXX also checked using my SSN to ensure that no other accounts with CitiBank were open associated with my SSN. 

XX/XX/XXXX I told XXXX that I has not yet received a bill from the original account and was concerned about making my payment. He said that while the original account is being reviewed no bill will be issued and late fees will not be applied because of the ongoing investigation of account No. XXXX. 

I am writing this affidavit to assist in this investigation by stating that the charges made on my card are fraudulent and I am sure that if you check locations phone numbers and shipping destinations you will find that none of them correspond to me or my spouse. 

Please remove the above noted charges and respond in writing as to the status of this case to the following address : Our address is : XX/XX/XXXX Our Phone Numbers :XX/XX/XXXXPlease contact us regarding this matter. 

Sincerely, XXXX Attached :XX/XX/XXXXXXXX Police Report, XXXXXX/XX/XXXX Police Report, Federal Trade Commission XXXX ; CitiBank Fraudulent Activity Letter Ref XXXX cc. : XX/XX/XXXXPolice Report XXXX, FTC Case XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Letter containing the above text was sent certified mail to CitiBank Today I called to check on the status of my case and found that not only nothing had been done BUT more charges were made, the disputed charges were confirmed as accurate by the fraudster XX/XX/XXXX as he and his information were not removed from my account! the account was NOT closed as promised and in fact, CitiBank was communicating with XXXX XXXX instead of me! 

XX/XX/XXXX I called Citibank and talked to XXXX in their Fraud department and was told that all of the charges were approved by me during a call that I made on XX/XX/XXXX. I never made a call to Citibank on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX I confirmed that the card that was to be closed on XX/XX/XXXX was never closed and XXXX XX/XX/XXXX in fact was contacted to authorize the fraudulent charges. Which he did. CitiBank never contacted me because XXXX never updated my personal information. They contacted the fraudster ( XXXXXX/XX/XXXX ). 

XX/XX/XXXX I indicated to XXXX that I felt that the fraud was occurring inside Citibank due to the access to the account numbers. She did not comment. I also stated that by continually not closing accounts and allowing unshared confidential numbers to be in the hands of people other than the account owner in my opinion is aiding and abetting a criminal. 

XX/XX/XXXX I asked XXXX to update all of my personal information and remove XXXX XX/XX/XXXX from the account and to re-establish myXX/XX/XXXX She told me that she had done so. 

XX/XX/XXXX I asked XXXX to close the account and she did but immediately another account was established by the system which she said could not be closed for 2 days. 

XX/XX/XXXX I asked that XXXX remove all charges, she said that she could not, but she would mark them all as fraudulent. 

XX/XX/XXXX I asked that CitiBank confirm this interaction and the closure of the account via e mail or regular mail. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX said that she would call me in 2 days to confirm the closure of the account. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX said that a manager would call me to discuss the fraud on this account as it was too much for her to decide. 

I thanked XXXX for her help and ended the call. I await CitiBank phone calls confirming resolution.

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