Consumer complaint received 2024-05-27 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed that there was a hard inquiry done against an existing best buy card that I had applied for several years ago. I did not make this inquiry so I called the bank to find out more information about what happened and discovered that there was a credit limit increase and the card had been used for purchases I did not make. Not much information was given to me and a fraudulent inquiry case was opened by Citi bank who is the bank that services the best buy cards. At the time I did not know that I actually should have filed a fraudulent charge claim because the first person I talked to was very incompetent, so the initial claim was denied. I also would like to make aware that I was not given any information or advice as to what to do following the claim so the thief was able to then make another inquiry against my credit and applied for a XXXX XXXX card a few days later. I called XXXX XXXX and was given the advice I needed to hear which was to file the FTC report and freeze my credit so this could no longer continue. I had also filed a police report at this time and began working with XXXX XXXXXXXX, badge number - XXXX, phone number - XXXX, case number - XXXX. 
In order to move the case forward I needed to get the list of purchases made by the suspect so she could begin requesting security footage but upon contacting citi bank was told that I would have to wait until after the end of the billing cycle which was XX/XX/XXXX a whole XXXX and a half weeks after the initial claim was made and not only that but the invoice wouldn't arrive for another 10 days after mailing it making the case much more difficult to move forward with. After receiving the invoice I was able to contact Citi bank with the reference numbers of the charge made and was able to determine that the fraudulent charges were made by someone who gave the name XXXX XXXX, a phone number of XXXX and an email that contains my name but that I do not recognize. I called Citi bank many times so it is hard for me to remember when I first discovered that my claim had been denied but after discovering the first denial I requested to have it reopened at which point it was but they also requested that I send them further information like the FTC report, a police report and proof of identity so I did. I sent them a copy of my drivers license for the proof of identity. 
The detective gave me the advice of following up with Citi bank every week for an update on the claim so I did and to my surprise, Citi bank had denied my claim a second time before ever receiving the information they had requested. The tracking number showed that the mail arrived XX/XX/XXXX but the claim was closed either that Thursday or Friday. It is hard to remember all the dates at this point. I requested to speak to a supervisor who informed me that even though the notes showed that the dispute should have been classified as a fraudulent charges that it was still being classified as a fraudulent application and thus was ignored. The supervisor told me that she would reopen the case and left more detailed notes for the XXXX XXXX department to investigate it as fraudulent charges but after reading all the horror stories about Citi bank and how they will often deny these claims, I have lost all faith in them and have decided to file this report. The supervisor also informed me that they had pre-emptively sent out a replacement card to an address that I used to live at in XXXX. They sent the replacement to my former XXXX XXXX XXXX which I have not lived at since XXXX. 

While fighting these charges I also discovered that when making my last legitimate payment in XXXX of XXXX, I had over paid by {$29.00} dollars and instead of refunding me my money Citi bank had notified the credit bureaus that I owed them this money when in fact this money should be refunded to me. 

The police report I am submitting does not show the correct amount for the fraudulent charges but that is because I made the police report immediately after notifying Citi bank and was given incorrect information by them. The first girl I spoke too only told me that {$1600.00} was charged to the account and later discovered that this was a incorrect. I will be submitting the receipts I was able to attain from Best Buy for the fraudulent charges. 

To my knowledge, between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX the suspect charged at least {$9500.00} though the last time I had legitimately used the card was in XXXX of XXXX and paid the full amount owed plus XXXX dollars for that purchase. Any charges after that date are fraudulent. Citi bank knows and admitted that they sent the card to an incorrect address and that these charges need to be dismissed.

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