Citibank Visa & Essentials Gold
Unauthorized $119.95 Charge Posted on Visa Card While Abroad

Citibank is my bank. I also have a Citibank Visa card. While checking my credit card account, I found that a charge of $119.95 had been posted on 5/5 by Essential Gold. I had been out of the country since Feb 27, returned on May 11, and had not used that account while I was away, so I called Citibank Visa to file a claim for fraudulent use of my card.

As soon as I gave the name of Essentials, the employee told me to wait and just transferred me. Then I had someone representing Essentials on the line. It seems Essentials works with Citibank and sends advertisements to all cardholders. I really don't know what they are selling. As mentioned above, I was not in the country when it was received, and it was thrown in the garbage with all the junk we receive. The gall of these people is that the person on the line from Essentials told me I had accepted their offer and the charge was valid.

Eventually she told me the charge would be credited to my account within two working days. I am flabbergasted that Citibank is part of this scheme. I should be able to trust my bank to protect me against credit card fraud, and they seem to encourage it. I can't believe I am the only one with unauthorized charges from Essentials, and when you consider that Citibank has millions of credit cardholders, Essentials might be making a lot of money. Furthermore, my problem, and probably others', is that since I stay out of the country for several months, I might not see my bank statement for a long time and not be able to file a claim within the required time. Then what would happen? Will I be stuck with the charge? Will Citibank still accept my dispute? What about cardholders who might not even look at their statements?

I worked in an industry as a fraud prevention officer and fought many battles with Citibank to protect my company when we had claims from customers disputing their charges, and I know of the millions of dollars lost to fraud. I still can't believe Citibank, my bank for the last 12 years, is helping crooked companies to defraud customers.

Company: Citibank Visa & Essentials Gold
Country: USA
State: South Dakota
City: Sioux Falls And Omaha
Address: Box 6500 Sioux Falls, SD 57117
Phone: 8009505114

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