January 17, 2025
New York sues Citibank for alleged failure to reimburse fraud victims

Citi’s financial institution department within the central enterprise district of Singapore on Feb. 12, 2018.

Ore Huiying | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures

New York Legal professional Basic Letitia James sued Citibank for allegedly failing to guard and reimburse victims of digital fraud, in keeping with a Tuesday launch.

The go well with claims that Citi doesn’t have robust protections in place to forestall unauthorized account takeovers, misleads victims of fraud and illegally denies reimbursements. The lawyer basic’s workplace mentioned the alleged failure on Citi’s half has value New York account holders thousands and thousands of {dollars}, and in some instances, their total life financial savings.

“Banks are presupposed to be the most secure place to maintain cash, but Citi’s negligence has allowed scammers to steal thousands and thousands of {dollars} from hardworking individuals,” James mentioned in an announcement. “Many New Yorkers depend on on-line banking to pay payments or save for large milestones, and if a financial institution can not safe its clients’ accounts, they’re failing of their most simple obligation.”

The lawsuit consists of particular individuals who had 1000’s of {dollars} stolen from their accounts and mentioned the financial institution didn’t reimburse them.

In an announcement, Citi mentioned the financial institution “works extraordinarily laborious” to forestall threats and help clients who turn out to be victims of fraud.

“Banks should not required to make clients complete when these clients observe criminals’ directions and banks can see no indication the shoppers are being deceived. Nonetheless, given the industry-wide surge in wire fraud over the last a number of years, we’ve taken proactive steps to safeguard our purchasers’ accounts with main safety protocols, intuitive fraud prevention instruments, clear insights concerning the newest scams, and driving shopper consciousness and schooling,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement. “Our actions have diminished shopper wire fraud losses considerably, and we stay dedicated to investing in fraud prevention measures to assist our purchasers safe their accounts in opposition to rising threats.”

James alleged within the lawsuit that Citi should reimburse victims of fraud below the Digital Fund Switch Act.