BALTIMORE — A Baltimore man is fighting to reclaim money stolen from him. He lost thousands after responding to a text he believed came from his bank.
Alex Nemirovsky was in the JFK Airport terminal waiting for his international flight when he received a troubling text message.
“They said there was something wrong with my card. I needed to have that card so I could possibly use it overseas,” Nemirovsky said.
He didn't have time to wait on hold for a customer service agent, so he clicked the link in the text message.
“It had a Citibank logo and everything and I answered their questions, and they answered great, so I thought my card was fine now,” said Nemirovsky.
A few weeks later, he returned from Spain and learned that his gym membership payment hadn't been processed.
“So I called Citibank. Took me forever to get to a person,” said Nemirovsky. “I didn't totally understand what they were saying, somehow, I made out that $49,000 was withdrawn from my account. I almost fainted. Things became dark around me. I was like, what? It's not me.”
He visited the Laurel branch where he signed paperwork attesting the transfer was fraudulent, then waited for a response.
“Thinking it would be 30 days later. It wasn't 30 days later,” said Nemirovsky.
Two months later, he said the bank declined to replace those funds.
“I'm having a lot of panic, and a lot of anxiety, and I'm having a hard time,” said Nemirovsky. “With all the things I have to deal with right now - grieving over my dad's death, taking care of my mom who's not in good health. And I don't make that much money. This is money I have saved up as a nest egg, for my retirement, for the future, and I'm worried I'm not going to get it back.”
Nemirovsky filed an appeal with the bank, a police report, and contacted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
He said he's never made transfers this large and never heard from his bank before the transaction was processed.
“For them to just release that money, it doesn't make any sense to me,” said Nemirovsky.
According to federal regulations, if a third party fraudulently induces a customer into sharing account access information that is used to initiate an electronic funds transfer, it falls under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E, which requires banks to promptly investigate the error, report the results, and correct the error.
However, Citibank is standing firm that no error occurred writing to Nemirovsky, "the claim has been denied due to you not safeguarding the account and releasing personal information."
Nemirovsky argues that Citibank did err by releasing the funds without first confirming his identity and that the transfer was legitimate. And the bank froze his account right after the transfer suggesting the transaction had been flagged as fraudulent before Nemirovsky reported it.
Citibank would not comment specifically on Nemirovsky’s case to WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii, but in an email, a spokesperson wrote:
"Modern financial scams targeting Americas of all ages and backgrounds are sophisticated operations and we have a great deal of sympathy for those who fall victim to fraud. We have seen a growing number of scams, ranging from phishing texts, to robocalls and internet and email fraud, and we are deeply committed to doing our part to protect our customers from financial fraud. If a customer receives a suspicious unsolicited message, we urge them to not provide personal or account information and to immediately contact us directly via our Citibank app, website (citi.com), or by calling the customer service number listed on our website. In cases where fraud is reported, we take steps to recall the funds that were taken by fraudsters using a customer’s personal and account information.”
“I can't make any sense of it. I don't know what emotions to feel, like how does somebody lose their life savings in a second just because they thought their bank was trying to help them with their card?” asked Nemirovsky.
If this happens to you, you should alert your bank right away. If your claim is denied, you can file an appeal and ask the bank to reconsider its decision. You can also file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In addition, Nemirovsky contacted the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, Federal Trade Commission, and a consumer protection attorney.
Below are links to file complaints with these agencies:
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
- Federal Trade Commission
- FDIC
- Maryland Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation
- Maryland Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division
- Better Business Bureau
Citibank also provided the information below to better help customers keep their accounts safe:
- If you receive a one-time passcode you didn’t request, don’t give the code to anyone who contacts you for it.
- Use known links to access businesses online.
- Verify any phone, text or email contacts are legitimate before sharing information such as your account number, security word, PIN, User ID or password.
- Be leery of requests to download apps to fix issues or that allow access to your device.
- For more information about how you can protect yourself against fraud, and how Citi makes your security a priority, visit: www.citi.com/fraudprevention