Description

I received a call from someone identifying themselves from the Citi Bank fraud dept (8002746660), asking if I used my citibank credit card to purchase 4 fi****** for $2400 on gunsamerica.com in Staten Island NY. I told her absolutely not, I don't have a citibank credit card. She said can consider this a case of identity theft but will have to report it to homeland security because purchasing fi****** without a license is a federal offense, and purchases for that many fi****** can be considered act of terrorism. They asked me if I ever lost my ID or passport, provided their details online, or used them for official business. I told no but I bought a car a few months ago. They said government guidelines state I must write "one time use only" whenever I let someone make a copy of my ID. This was werid cause I never heard that before. They inferred this must be how my ID was stolen. Then after a brief hold they said the head of their dept said since I'm confirming on the call that I did not make the purchase, the actual criminal might still be in the area (Staten Island). They can get me over to NYPD to file the report and after the the investigation is complete, NYPD will send them the police report, and my case will be closed with citibank and I'll be protected from any action by Homeland Security. They had me confirm if this would be an ok resolution, which of course I said yes. They then proceeded to give me - the credit card no., the date and address of the bank the cc was applied, the date and address the cc was issued, their name, employee ID, call back phone, a citibank case no., and [email protected] (which is legit) - to give to NYPD when I file the report. They had me repeat everything back to them and then transferred me. At this point I figured this was legit since they never asked me for any of my info and provided me everything. The lady had an accent but I didn't want to assume just because of it. The guy she transferred me to just answsered "New York City Police" like it was his first time, which was a red flag for me. I told him my name and that I was transferred by Citibank about a card in my name, which is not mine, that was used to purchase firearms, which didn't make. He then said he had to transfer me to his supervisor for this. The supervisor just answered "hello" which was another red flag. I proceeded to tell him why I was calling and he took my name and some of the details the citibank person gave me. He had a thick indian accent which once again I didn't want to assume. He said this was a very serious matter and started asking me if I lost my ID, used it for official buisness, and how I'm supposed to write "one time use only" when I let someone take a copy of my ID, much like the Citibank lady had. At this point I started to get hesitant and he called me out on it asking why was I answering his questions like that, how this is a serious matter, and that I'm the one that called him. I asked for his name and badge no. and he gave me 8712 and told me his name was Anthony John. At this point he was getting so agitated I was having a hard time understanding what he was saying with his accent. Eventually he said in order to continue filing the report I need to log onto Microsoft Teams and he will send me a message with a link to click on. It will take me to a page that will show me he is who he says he is and prove to him that I am who I say I am. I told him I don't use teams and he said I'll need to download it. I said that doesn't sound right and he said I can give him my Teams ID and password instead. By that point I had looked up the badge and name he provided, and found similar reports from other ppl about a citibank/firearms/NYPD scams, so I hung up. I called citibank's phone on their website and while I was on hold for 30 mins, I got about a dozen calls from a New York City Police Department caller ID. Eventually the citibank person said there's no account associated with my phone number. I realize now a lot of what they said was to present a problem to make me afraid, provide a solution, create urgency, and bully me into taking action. I'm surprised but glad I now know how sophisticated scams have gotten.