My Citibank Fraud Experience (Debit Card)

I have been a victim of fraud before, but this was a little different this time.  I woke up one morning and went to work as usual.  I hadn't checked my checking account at this point because I wasn't expecting any transactions.  If I were, I would have checked first thing that morning.  So later in the morning, knowing I was about to go out to the store I checked my account to make sure I have enough.  It's a habit, no surprises needed at the checkout counter.  Much to my surprise, I had a $0.00 balance.  Not $0.31 or $2.42 which could have been accurate.  No, this was $0.00 and the charges were made that morning around 6am.  I didn't have a lot of money in the account to begin with, but I knew I had something. 

Without being too detailed, I had 4 transactions that totaled about $250.  Two of the transactions were the same amount, let's say $70 and the other 2 were $90 and $20.  All of the transactions were made at 3 different locations in the same city...about 8 hours away from me and around the same time, minutes apart.  The transaction description on my account stated that a debit card was used for each transaction.  So I checked my purse and surely I had the card in my possession!  So how could this happen?  Darn scammers!

I called the bank's fraud department as soon as I could and told them the situation.  They asked some questions and credited back the amounts and said that the fraud would be researched and I should receive the outcome in 30 days.  They also cancelled my card and overnighted me a new one. 

Ok, all done I thought.

About 30 days later, I surely received a message in online banking stated that they have researched the case and came to the conclusion that those were my charges and I am responsible for them since my card was in my possession at the time of the fraud and the pin along with the physical card had to be used to conduct the transactions so surely I made the transactions.  To add insult to injury, the letter also said that the transactions were within my normal activity.

I was floored.  There is no way I go into 3 separate convenient stores and buy $250 worth of anything, gas or otherwise.  So I decided to reach out to Citibank.  I reached out on Twitter, FB and through email.  I looked up the executives' email addresses online and I think that is what really got my case looked into again.

The media person told me that I couldn't have my case looked into, until after the money would be taken out of my account again, which was a week later.  I felt so powerless.  I kept my email to the executives updated each time an action was taken. 

After the money was taken out again, I called Citibank to appeal my case.  They credited my account again and said that they would research the account again.  A couple of days later I received an online message telling me that they overturned their decision and the funds will be credited to me permanently.

It was an uphill battle, but I believe if I had not sent an email to the executives, then my case would not have been looked into and overturned.  I also believe that the case wasn't researched to see that I live 8 hours away from where the transactions were conducted and the time line didn't add up and the transactions were way out of my normal activity.

I'm happy it turned out well, but I did have to put some work into it.  While speaking with one of the representatives, she mentioned that it was probably a scamming device used at a gas station and they just cloned my card information and pin.  Probably was.  Since then I also activated an alert that my bank has that states anytime a card is not present for the transaction I get an alert.  It's working well so far, but I hope this never happens again!

My GreenPath Debt Management Experience (GreenPath Review)

Falling behind in cards, I sought out a debt management company to assist me with this issue.  Yes, don't go into debt, don't rack up debt, and watch your spending...got it!  But for those of you who are at this point and exploring your options, let me share with you my experience.

So coming to the decision that I would go with a debt management company, I also decided to research multiple companies before deciding on one.  The companies I contacted were:

• InCharge
• Cambridge Credit Counseling
• GreenPath
• American Consumer Credit
• Consolidated Credit Solution

I really wanted to avoid talking with someone on the phone, so I wanted a company where I could input everything online and sign up there.  The only company that seemed to accommodate this was InCharge.  I really loved the website.  It was easy and you could go back and forth to tailor the plan to your needs.

Other than InCharge, I contacted the other companies by phone.  It was pretty much the same conversation...about 30 minutes to an hour on the phone.  I had to give the reason for my call (to get a handle on my debt because it's becoming overwhelming).  Tell how or why I've arrived at this point and also give household budget information and credit information.  Each company pulled my credit report, so it was a soft pull that doesn't count against you.  They went over each item to ask if I wanted to include those accounts in the debt management plan.  I had older collections accounts that I didn't want included because they were about to fall off of my credit reports.  I had accounts that were in good standing that I didn't want to include that were credit union accounts, but I also had accounts that were in good standing that I still included.

The reason why I still included those were because the debt management company can negotiate for a lower interest rate and lower payment most times.

I selected Greenpath because it was the plan that made the most sense to me.  It wasn't the lowest, but it had a combination of the most accounts I wanted to include and the payments were manageable.
I inputted all of the plans into an Excel spreadsheet and included the payment into my budget to see where my budget would stand.  Each company emailed me their breakdown and after selecting Greenpath's I signed the agreement electronically so that my payment could be underway.

I immediately received a plan confirmation and continued to swallow the lump in my throat.  A sigh of relief and a swelling of anxiety and anxiousness, I signed up for the online portal.

Note, there is a one time payment that can be included with the first payment or paid at the time you sign up depending on the company.  Also, my monthly charge for the company was $50 that comes out of the monthly payment.  They may be able to do weekly  or bi-weekly payments as well, but I'm not sure.

Online Portal
I was so relieved that there was an online portal that had all of my information and detailed each time a proposal was sent out, accepted, or rejected.  I knew they wouldn't be accepted right away so it was now time to sit and wait.  So I checked the portal every 5 minutes and nothing LOL.  I figured it would update the next day and it did.  Only 9 out of 14 creditors accepted my proposal and one said no.  The other 4 remained in pending status.

Facebook Group
I also signed up for their Facebook Group.  The only way you can get accepted into the group is if you provide your Client ID number that you receive when you sign up for the plan.  I am so happy I found the group.  I searched for information from those in the plan new and old and some that were making their last payments!

Task #1 from the Online Portal
I got an email and text alert that I have a task in the online portal.  It was a notification that one of the creditors would only accept the proposal if I paid $10 more a month.  At first, I was devastated because I was thinking if this vendor is asking then all vendors will want more and then I will be paying hundreds more than I signed up for.

Chat in the Online Portal
The Chat function in the online portal is a God send.  It beats picking up the phone anyday!  I've chatted so much with them, I know they know me personally by now.  Any question or insecurity I had, I inquired through chat.  They would look up my account and let me know what is going on.  I felt so much better after tallking to them.

Thursday, June 20, 2019
My credit score is falling rapidly, but it was already in duress.  I have seen where companies are reporting 30 day lates because I missed one payment before signing up for the plan.  If I had known, I would have made every effort to not miss any payments and pay the difference until the plan took over.  Also, I would have moved all of my payment dates to later dates in the month so that the plan would be accommodated better with each account.

I've heard that the credit score dropping is a side effect if you are missing payments or are paying late.   Also, accounts are being closed when they are taken over by the plan, but sometimes this doesn't hurt your credit score depending on the condition of the account going into the plan.

As of today, I have 4 creditors pending that have not accepted the payment proposals.  GreenPath has sent the proposals out to them again.  Fingers crossed...waiting sucks.

Phone Calls and Collections
I have one creditor that is still calling me that hasn't accepted the plan.  I may reach out to them to see if they are going to accept it because fees are still being charged.  However, GreenPath still sends them the proposed payment even if they haven't accepted the plan yet.