Wire fraud victim wins LAWSUIT against Citibank over drained trust account

[@michaeln.2383]

The banks shift the burden to the consumer, but Scott did absolutely nothing wrong.

[@jgesselberty]

Anytime there has been some error in an account, they always send you paperwork to fill out to correct it. I call and tell them, YOU MADE THE MISTAKE; YOU FIX IT. Me filling out a form is just to say that it was my mistake and let you off the hook.

[@Rhaspun]

@@jgesselberty Then the bank avoids getting a fine from the government. Citibank since 2000 had paid out $26,945,611,792.00 in fines. All the big banks have paid out substantial fines since 2000.

[@Tortilla.Reform]

Good thing New York Attorney General Leticia James stepped in and helped his case

[@AaaaNinja]

I know right? Their statement says "Client awareness and education" has nothing to do with the case featured in this piece the guy did everything right.

[@jjjones8609]

Notice the bank didn’t say we didn’t notify him about the fees and transfers-how is citi being lawful as they claim in their PR statement?

[@blqeddie2946]

They need to pay his legal fees too! 🤬

[@deborahblackvideoediting8697]

Agreed! Plus, I believe they should put out the money to replace the home they lost, and additional funds for the years of extreme stress he experienced due to their negligence.

[@maskdwn4445]

And pay his lawyer as well, because it was their falut

[@genespell4340]

His nightmare isn't over if citi bank didn't reimburse him for the loss of his house.

[@gravethebeyond]

Damn right.

[@TrishBenedict]

And I wondered if he was on the hook for the attorneys fees or if that was part of the judgment against Citibank

[@im-gi2pg]

@@jonathananderson5788he should get millions in my opinion.

[@dontbanmebrodontbanme5403]

And the attorney's fees. Edit: I see this was already asked.

[@Sonomacats]

Or pay for his attorney's fees

[@redmasc]

Ex-CITI VP, Helen Grace Caldwell, of the Michigan Ave branch was recently charged with bilking elders for $1.5 millions and sentenced to 30 months in prison. I know where I'm not putting my money...

[@sandyrose2398]

There are other banks doing the same thing.

[@j.pejoro4909]

30 months prison time isn’t enoungh considering the grave damage to customers.

[@JohnBrown-ff6ez]

*#METOO*

[@julierogers1155]

Thank you for bringing our attention to this one too.

[@ginab6142]

@@j.pejoro4909 Career criminals targeted my elderly parents, stole $$ and set their house on fire and they got less than 30 months . . . . so 🤷‍♀ The whole system is f'd up.

[@pattysouza2954]

I have great sympathy for him and he lost his home taking care of his disabled sister. This is so Wrong.

[@nitajean9885]

They never told us that *Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness* was all pursuit with maybe a little happy life of liberty here and there.

[@thiawroane]

It's time to ARREST bank execs to hold them accountable for predatory and inept business practices!

[@irwinsaltzman979]

You have a good take. If the police showed up at the President of Citis house at 6 in the morning and took him in for arraignment that will get his attention.

[@COMPUTER.SCIENCE.]

Or, just don't use their services, keep and protect your own cash! 🤷‍♂️

[@irwinsaltzman979]

Computer science . Banks have a legal duty to safely hold your money while paying you interest. When they allow others to steal it , they should be held accountable. A person should not feel they need to keep their money under a mattress. Not much different when leaving your vehicle overnight at a repair shop. If it is stolen while in the shop , the owner of the shop needs to reimburse you.

[@msdosnt]

Gotta love the Citibank response. ‘We closely follow all laws’…..the first thing they do is lie in their statement. They were just found and it was proven, they did NOT follow all laws, which requires them to perform certain actions and also they are required by law to adhere to the agreement/contract with the customer. They didn’t, and arrogantly so. Citibank is scum and if you have any kind of account with them you should close it immediately. If you don’t, your loss will be your fault and you will end up fighting them to the ends of the earth to get your money back.

[@michaeln.2383]

Citi's got to be the worst. There's a callousness that makes them stand out.

[@CC-cp5uf]

​@@michaeln.2383it appears Chase is second.

[@xlerb2286]

Nope, no Citibank accounts here. Nor any Wells Fargo accounts, nor any Bank of America accounts. We deal with a rock solid local credit union that uses a smaller regional bank, also rock solid, for their backing accounts. There are no guarantees, but that's about as safe as you can get outside of stuffing the money in a mattress which has bigger problems.

[@michaeln.2383]

@@CC-cp5uf I was considering them for second.

[@Rantsack]

We all know they copied and paste that from their terms and conditions, then send it to the News. If you read it, it’s EXACTLY WORD BY WORD.

[@garotadagavea]

Somebody inside Citibank was involved.

[@texgowing7359]

I am thinking exactly the same thing👍. I live in Cambodia & I would ask why Thailand?? There are thousands of barrangs live in Thailand are permanent residents. Where's the connection within the bank, there will be one for sure, they simply need to look

[@brendanalexcurran3429]

Exactly! I didn’t even think of this, how in the hell would anyone from Thailand would get his info? Im sure this isn’t the first time either.

[@susanrand512]

I agree with you 💯. Who else would know how to go around protocols

[@pappadudat]

Don't think so, they would fire and throw whoever under the bus. Citi bank is trash

[@pzyyyy]

100% inside job. If you ever use citi and call their support it’s always people in Thailand or Philippines. Stay away from this bank at all costs.

[@DRventura333]

How the heck does a wire transfer take place without the account holder enabling it??? Inside Job? Worker who knew her logon somehow??? Just dangerous for all concerned. The Bank should help its customers with more fervor.

[@garotadagavea]

Inside job.

[@HummaKavula-DontVoteForStupid]

You’ll be surprised how sophisticated online hacking is these days. It’s frightening and disturbing

[@d.r.robinson9599]

EXACTLY....what I was thinking...HOW?

[@ewenchan1239]

"The Bank should help its customers with more fervor." Banks are in business for ONE reason and ONE reason only: to make money. They don't give a shit about you nor anybody else for that matter and they most certainly don't give a shit as to HOW they make their money.

[@fabianmckenna8197]

It would have to be an amazing hack to convince a bank to empty a trust fund. These are not your standard savings or cheque accounts and are supposed to be bulletproof, allowing only limited access as stated in the terms.

[@glbernini0]

Any chance for punitive damages & getting compensated for the lost home? All these victims deserve so much more than the bare minimum!

[@RD9_Designs]

Not to mention the lawyers fees!

[@MultiKingsfan]

not gonna happen. he is lucky to even get the wired money back. this is what happens when you suck corporate dick your whole life. Big business xan and will get away with everything

[@Darci3333]

I am very glad to see Citibank lose this lawsuit they have done so many people wrong. Glad to see them finally be held accountable for their criminal acts.

[@newmankidman5763]

Most Banks in the World do customers wrong.

[@JenniferPChung]

"grind down the other side" is absolutely their tactic. Thank you for pushing through and sharing your story. I'm sorry you had to go through that and your sister lost her home in the process.

[@kbreck71]

They should pay his attorneys fees too

[@KlaudiaShaefferr]

I’m sure the judge included that in the court decision

[@maternst1]

It's in their bank for protection. THEY are accountable when something happens to it. PERIOD!

[@Martin-xv]

The judgement should have been more.

[@willieverusethis]

Yes, did Citi have to pay for his attorney? I sure hope so.

[@beverlyweber171]

at least he was awarded interest. I wish it was attorney fees also

[@primafacie9721]

Why would a case about a bank not following it's own consumer notification requirements even require more than one day before a judge? It should be a summary judgement. America, what a great nation to be a rich corrupt bank.

[@xXxpowerbagxXx]

yeah its fucked. The bank has such strong lawyers.

[@pinchebruha405]

So many cases that are cut and dry yet dragged on for lawyers fees. This is not equal justice under the law because it requires money to fight. The little person dosent stand a chance against corporate lawyers!

[@lisamay4376]

I think they should have to pay damages for all the heartache this man went through.

[@LiliWhyte]

Good! He should get even more for the extreme stress Citibank caused him & damages for the loss of his home & dragging this through the courts. There should be no question that banks & big corporations are held accountable to their customers & clients.

[@bhudilokhuza]

Before watching the video, I thought this was one of those cases where people send money to scammers and then blame the bank for not getting it back. I'm so glad it wasn't. I'm also glad this guy was persistent.

[@redwoods7370]

He lost his home? Oh my God. He’s such a good brother to take good care of him sister. Bless him.

[@cygnevara8400]

I'm glad he won. The messed up part is....losing their HOME!!!! The bank thought they could get away with this.

[@johnanon658]

Won, sort of

[@MultiKingsfan]

And they did get away with it.... they still took his home.

[@damnjustassignmeone]

Absolutely evil. What’s the point of having your money in a bank? And where are regulators?

[@TeamTimeRiders]

It’s things like this that are why I will NEVER bank with Shitibank. This happens all over the country to customers of this bank. I want no part of it.

[@Lucysil1970]

What did he pay in legal fees?

[@martinguldnerAutisticSwanGuru]

Question is how the scammer get the bank account information? This is a reason not to have all your money in one bank account.

[@saber6a]

and dont link bank accounts to any outside sources.... I've been screwed so many times by paypal and cashapp and the other pay systems... its not even worth keeping your money in a bank anymore crap savings percentages. lots of hidden fees

[@GerhardMack]

There are many ways. For instance if you write a cheque , all of your account information is at the bottom.

[@randomstuff-qu7sh]

Social engineering and data breaches are common ways to get the information. Stealing mail is a possibility, as is an inside job… although I’d think the odds of a crooked insider getting caught should be fairly high.

[@ManZoneYT]

Look at 2:24 in Citibank's response, the reason the scammers have his information is he fell prey to a phishing attack. He provided the access to his account to the scammers and that's how they were able to wire out successfully.

[@GerhardMack]

@@ManZoneYTGood catch. However the bank could have locked out his credentials after the first complaint.

[@TomM60]

Everyone should get away from a Citibank bank account. My ex wife had $50,000 taken out of her account before she died. Her brother was executor of her estate and was still trying to get the money out of that bank that was stolen. Her case was a little different in that the bank said they have a recording of her saying "yes" that allowed the bank transfer to go through to a dummy account in Michigan. I have no idea if my ex brother in law got that money back for her estate. He's not the type to put up much of a fight. Besides it wasn't his money. That's the way he feels. I just hope that in the case of this guy that the bank was made to pay all legal fees as well and reimburse the family for the house they had to sell. He shouldn't have experienced any loss in his sister's account or for the loss of that house.

[@valerieking5265]

Citibank should have been required to cover Scott's lawyer's fees as well as the loss of their house.

[@johnanon658]

And for all the time and stress etc

[@kkirsch3583]

Glad to see Corporate take a slap and have to reimburse the little guy. Doesn’t happen nearly often enough!

[@AnthonyRaven72]

My best buy card was through Citibank and was hacked and Citibank couldn't care less...hope they get their pants sued off.

[@Basta11]

This is what punitive damages are for. Not to reward victims but to punish the big guys from abusing the legal system. They knew they were wrong but made a business decision thinking it would be cheaper to drag it for long and make the little guy give up.

[@MultiKingsfan]

What punitive damages? citibank still stole his house.....

[@Gaby-N-Miklo]

120k? Wow!! They can't charge the recipient of that transfer?

[@billshull9468]

It's an overseas scammer

[@Denvermorgan2000]

There is no way to recall that money once it leaves the country.

[@Gaby-N-Miklo]

@@Denvermorgan2000 they can't find out who the recipient is?

[@Denvermorgan2000]

@Gaby-N-Miklo it might be possible to find out but it's usually split up after it leaves the country into crypto accounts that are nearly impossible to track and the foreign governments may not be willing to help.

[@ontheroad5555]

@@Denvermorgan2000 shouldn't they have a system in place to contact the person who is making the transfer? According to the video the law requires Citibank to inform the person transferring the money about the money of foreign taxes need to be paid. They never enforced that. No bank should just allow that much money to be wired without first contacting the person on the account to verify.

[@pauloszetarinielli69508]

Good reporting here, how on earth did this even start in the first place?? Inside job?????

[@truegrit7697]

Banks are NOT your friend. Thank you Leticia James for protecting bank customers in NY.

[@pjt3887]

It's appalling how easily the banks will take your money but when they're at the root of the problem for why your money goes missing. They all of a sudden have a very hands-off approach.

[@Mauser1965]

Make a mistake and they charge you. They make a mistake and want to walk away. What a bank pays in interest is far less than what a borrower pays for a loan. Guess policy and procedure is not worth the ink it's printed on. Fascinating, and fortunate that they recovered theirs...

[@bigal7561]

They should be charged with fraud and had to pay millions.

[@GrrliinaK]

It makes you wonder if the bank is in on the fraud. Mind blowing incompetence.

[@tomrutter1637]

3:54 "...and works extremely hard to prevent threats..." They didn't do ANY work before or after the incident.

[@TimeSurfer206]

"We have established robust countermeasures..." Yeah, like anyone would ever believe a word a BANK says? Especially this one.

[@MultiKingsfan]

lol. you must be new to the U. S. people do blindly take their word, which is why they still get away with stealing all this money.

[@TimeSurfer206]

@@MultiKingsfan Ah, another Apricot Ape with Main Character Syndrome, I see. I minored in Econ.

[@Matthewgreen7779311]

Did the bank pay his attorney’s fees? The bank should be on the hook for all of it. This is outrageous.

[@Iheartcatz]

Every bank customer should be assigned a code # and if the bank calls you and they dont have that code, then disconnect the call!! These banks need to step up their game

[@Anoopworks]

This is the same issue with their credit Cards as well. My card was used in london and Australia, places I never visited until today. Luckily I noticed the charges immediately from my sms alerts and had them reversed as those charges have not been settled yet.

[@lg-ii6pm]

I don’t understand why banks let totally suspicious transactions occur and don’t offer any way to secure the account. It would take them a millisecond to program the ability to delay transactions or limit transaction amounts or limit wire transfers or provide notifications to help customers.

[@HeidiMerkley]

I went to my bank to see if they can put block on wire transfers on my accounts- Chase bank says no. I am trying to protect my account. They don’t really care if guess.

[@rkowalczykjr]

Me too

[@michaelqi5202]

The bank should pay punitive damages + attorney cost.

[@dodgem259]

The bank failed to follow it's own procedure by notifying account holders of wire transfers taking place to inform them of fee's associated to the wire transfer and as such if they wanted the transfer to go ahead. Without that acknowledgement from the account holder the only way the wire transfer can take place is if a Citi bank employee allows the wire transfer to take place. In my opinion it is clear Citi bank has a rouge employee and as such legal authorities need to go in an find out who it is. Also, now that the man has won his claim against Citi bank he can now go back to court and claim legal costs that resulted in the loss of his house. He would not have been able to do that until the outcome of the main case against Citi bank. Now they are found to be at fault he can now go ahead and make other multiple claims against Citi bank to recover EVERY dime he lost.

[@mineown1861]

Typical bank defense strategy , "you'll have to get an attorney" . Pure brinkmanship , they're confident you'll fold first as they have deeper pockets to pay lawyers out of. They sent two more wire transfers after he had notified them of the fraud ! Making them worse than incompetent, they're practically accessories to the crime. Punitive damages should attach to all of these cases , draconian damages that are reflected in the annual dividend to shareholders are the only way to enforce due diligence on banks .

[@PSALMfourtysix]

Boycott City Bank !!!

[@wilcee238]

You mean divest? That’s not the only place people need to divest from.

[@blueflameSM]

I’d be fighting for the loss of their house. I’m not sure how someone can just wire $120k and the bank not flag that as fraud.

[@RONderluck]

Banks don’t flag any wire transfers as fraud.

[@p.s.xoxo...lifeandstyle6101]

Someone in that bank had something to do with this fraud. He notified them when the first transfer took place and the6 allowed two more. This poor man lost his home over this and he should be compensated for that loss as well in addition to mental suffering.

[@JPurontong]

A normal wire transfer should be done by the account owner inside the physical bank infront of bank personnel.

[@glamoroussunset5361]

This report makes me never want to use Citibank. This is a horrible situation and I feel for everyone who has been caught up in a similar situation smh

[@loganskiwyse7823]

I love it when the story ends with a statement from the company that is basically saying we are guilty through denial.

[@Handle1969]

Yup. Didn’t even read your comment before I posted mine.

[@havad3938]

3 years of stress, lawyer fees, home loss, ++. He ought to sue for more. Billionaire Citibank..I'll never bank there.

[@bluduece420]

This is why you dont keep money in banks. Use credit unions.

[@KlaudiaShaefferr]

Interesting

[@drmontano9414]

#NumericaCU credit union lied to me that it was closed that nothing could be done when the other bank said dispute is open.

[@michaeljohnson4947]

When the other side hires an attorney named Bonebrake, you'll probably wanna settle.

[@PetieLee]

Big Money Got No Soul - NEP

[@jamesbell739]

So they will let you transfer HUGE sums of money but if you try to walk in a bank and Withdraw more than 10k you might get arrested on the way out.

[@rkowalczykjr]

You're right! You have to fill out a form if you withdraw $10,000 (& the system flags if you try to stay below that limit by taking out smaller amounts too!) WHY would wire transfers (international OR domestic!) for that amount not require the same precautions??? WHY won't they allow a client who has been a victim of wire fraud BLOCK all future wire transfers at their own request?? WHY won't they STOP incomplete fraudulent wire transfers when the account holder is IN the bank begging them to help him stop fraudulent pending international wire transfers on his account?? No, they didn't freeze it, call the receiving bank, or otherwise. My father-in-law has NEVER wired money, ever. Not internationally, not domestically, not even $1. Why would $29,000 in international wire transfers be authorized on his account!?! He is a veteran with PTSD. He was also held hostage at gunpoint in a local bank robbery, years ago. Now, he is agoraphobia and never leaves the house. But he did, when Citibank told him he HAD to come in to file a claim for wire fraud. Then his claim got denied!? Citibank is disgusting!

[@dixiebrick]

Beware the billionaire criminal class

[@VAFranky]

Citibank: "I'm sorry there's nothing we can do." Him: "You aren't sorry but you will be. I'll show you that you can actually do more than you believe 😊".

[@hagodi]

He lost his house, years of stress gained and now lost a big percentage of his law suit. So sad.

[@mazzith]

Our courts need revamped to where you should have to pay attorneys to get your day in court.

[@UT48D]

Any international wire should face a mandatory 30 day withhold or until the person verify it at the bank which ever is faster. That’s the least the bank can do to protect their customers!

[@speakeasy911]

The moral of the story, don't do business with Citi Bank!

[@manuelfernandez6513]

Jesus. America is a mess

[@Ferocious_Fairy]

The 2 wire transfers Shiti bank made AFTER they were notified about the fraud is inexcusable!!! Clearly they are guilty of wrong doing and deserve to pay up!

[@hotttt28]

Lawsuits are the only one to fight banks !

[@truckingwithtobee]

All of these banks need to be held accountable! It’s not just happening with this bank it’s happening with all of the banks.

[@lovelylibra107]

Fraud and Scams are two separate things. Hacking and scams are not synonymous. This is insane. but this is a lack of overall education regarding the financial industry. They’re using all of the words into interchangeably and they are different forms of illegal activity.

[@utubbabe1234]

this is why you need to regularly check your accounts to make sure everything balances out

[@LF-du4uc]

They don’t call it “ShityBank” for no reason…

[@snteag]

Good for you Mr. Jacobson. Congratulations on your win. I'm sorry it couldn't be resolved before your sister lost her home.

[@Skepe23]

Citibank is TRASH!

[@ShellyBomb]

Unbelievable - nice job Citibank --- 🤯‼️

[@darrylstone7488]

What about him losing his house and attorney fees and fees for stress

[@billger5710]

Attorney fees? Other damages such as lost of the house? Punitive Damages? And is there class action if other consumers have also lost money?

[@dapple33]

Banks and other financial institutions have become used to not being held accountable.

[@elquesoyyo_6407]

Citi bank took a master class in how to Lie and steal from trumpet lol.

[@28ebdh3udnav]

The news article was misleading. There's a difference between being scammed and having their account hacked. If you willing give your info to somebody else, your got scammed but if your computer gets a virus and the hacker changes your info, calls in pretending to be you, etc, then that's fraud

[@joshuana514]

You give out your info every time you write a check or authorize an ACH transaction. If someone attempts an ACH without your authorization, that's called wire fraud.

[@28ebdh3udnav]

@@joshuana514 i know that. But most of that info is private and if leaked then it's still fraud but if one gives it to somebody saying that they will get deposit then it's a scam

[@happycook6737]

Shame, shame, SHAME on Citibank! 🤬😠

[@ChiefBridgeFuser]

Will any of this have any bearing on PNC suit in Pennsylvania? (That one was allowed to proceed to discovery).

[@DwightStJohn-w1l]

Fun Fact: most state and federal laws for financial malfeasance on the part of banks, savings and loans, and public Trust companies is seven years. I didn't find out monies were taken out of my parents account until 20 plus years later, after dad had passed. The Trust had never got mom's name on the account as a signature, even though the statements each month were in both parents names. The origin bank my parents had dealt with for decades, San Gabriel Valley Bank, would NOT have made a mistake like that. It's on the Trust Duarte, but there's nada I can do. Involved?? 700 GRAND.

[@teksight9714]

Was he awarded attorneys fees?

[@broco6608]

Thank you Mr. Scott for your pursuit of this.

[@KTPurdy]

We know from the report that Citi Bank's response was a lie.

[@mtc9683]

Being now living in Europe when I make a transfer to pay my rent I have to receive a code number in my phone and enter in my bank account in order for the transfer to go through, the same manner with when I buy something online otherwise the payment does not go through, makes me wonder why in the states which I lived there 38 years do not have this type of security system, it was annoying at the beginning to have to enter the code but the reality is that it is very difficult not imposible to get money out of the account by someone else

[@Gsjdujdbdv]

I’m just surprised that the bank had the nerve to fight this in court. How can any major bank have a case against an obvious fraudulent debit that happened without the customer’s consent

[@tommydong8070]

I have Citibank credit card account as well as banking accounts. There were a numbers of fraudulent charges throughout me being its customers and the bank usually put a halt on the card from ever making more charges then notify me to call into customer service. Seem like the credit card division has better customer protection protocols in place than the banking divisions.

[@ebutuoy6463]

Their statement should read: After failing to follow our own rules and deceptively hiding our responsibility for the theft and allowing our customers to be victims to thieves.....We regret that we were caught and made to payback all those victims we abandoned. We take security seriously, lol, and plan to do better next time.

[@allformsinsuranceagency5453]

Scott deserves way more than that. The money for the house he lost as well as his time fighting this and his attorney fees!!!!!!

[@yolyprog2561]

Ikr

[@shawnmacdonaldbc]

Boycott Citibank 😢

[@panama-canada]

They’re not concerned because the money is insured. They can’t do it because the money went outside of US jurisdiction.

[@rezenclowd3]

We bailed out Citi. We bailed out Schwab. Why do we keep bailing out these failed banking institutions....

[@hersheyssmith2104]

That bank should have been sued for millions!

[@NYRM1974]

I took all my money out of Citi Bank a long time ago when I discovered money missing although a small amount. I was not going to take a chance. And like Scott they said they couldn't do anything about it.

[@apollo3758]

This is a complicated situation, I worked for a large bank in their fraud department, looking at the documents, they had texted his phone and confirmed that it was legitimate, this was after being initiated online, meaning he more than likely compromised the account and gave authorization for this to be completed. I agree there should be more steps at times for these things, especially for the elderly, but people are going to also complain about “how hard it is to use my own money.” For example I saw a Canadian bank that wanted a formal legal contact for a product before allowing a customer to withdrawal thousands of cash. Yes, the banks can do a better job, but it’s going to be at the expense of the free flow of money.

[@HoangNam-j8j]

More proof i can shame and humilliate those who study BANK now🤬😡🤬😡😡🤬😡😡😡🤬😡🤬😡🤬

[@JonathonCardwell]

Now my taxes are affected again by w -2 or inspector general fraud apparently or mail carrier fraud. I never got an identity theft protection pin number from the IRS like I always do since 2010.

[@TheCoolProfessor]

Giving him his money back is not enough! Citibank must be punished with great severity! I hope he goes after them for punitive damages and collects millions!

[@mominthe209]

It’s a Citibank employee that did this. The bank is investigating and likely horrified at what they have found. Protocols are out in a place for this specific reason. And was the bank possibly hacked and they wouldn’t say that ??