On 12/1/06 all my accounts were drained of funds. The branch manager told me to call customer service to file a report. The report process took longer than allowed by Citibank, and they will not review any of the problems I address because their system 'only will go back 60 days'. A 60-day dispute period is unreasonable, as the instructions and requirements are almost impossible to comply with. Filing a dispute was a moot point by the time I was able to meet with a branch manager or obtain correct information from a telephone customer service representative.
When I discovered that my three accounts were drained of all funds, I immediately went to a manager. I was informed that I was responsible for finding the missing money. Once I 'found' my money, they would review the information and get back to me no sooner than 90 days. A 60-day limit was imposed to obtain the information. Only the bank has authority to review its records, as it is confidential information. No crisis resolution department was available to assist me. Over $20k was missing and never returned to me, as there was no investigation.
I requested a review of my entire banking history, at a charge of $2.00 a statement. (Several bank personnel, in the branch and in customer service, recommended shredding all statements to prevent ID theft; the information was to be accessible online or through the branch. I was not informed of the $2 fee assessed on each statement.) I did ask for 10 years of statements from all of my accounts. Months later, I was informed that my signature card and 6 1/2 years of banking information were lost.
The available statements revealed a pattern of thousands of dollars over the course of the years that were deducted from my accounts 'erroneously'. There were two $150.00 charges for two bounced checks that I never wrote, and the checks did not exist. When I paid bills online, dozens of times the money was debited from my account and not given to the creditor, resulting in late charges, and the amount I specified to pay was debited from my account twice. The problem lay in the 5-second limit to input information into the online banking process.
Demographic information on my account was changed several times. I did not receive statements for three-month periods, and when I did begin to receive statements, I found several thousand dollars missing again. All the demographics were changed on personal accounts and statements addressed to my spouse, and we were, and currently are, involved in divorce proceedings. The manager of the branch told me that they don't check ID to change an address and that it can be done at the branch or on the phone. At this time they had no signature card to compare a signature with, as it was lost when they moved my files, and they went to another country. I have been unable to have any of these issues resolved, as the 60 days had already passed.
To date I have been unable to find any recourse. I worked on this diligently for several months because identity theft ensued at the same time, involving all my creditors, virtually anything involving my money and credit. I spent hours a day for months. Subsequently, all my affairs required crisis resolution, and I became very ill and have been for over a year.
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