Consumer has PRISM/CBSD on her

I found out that the macys acct that I had closed a while back was being upgraded to a master card and I should receive it in a few days. I called 1-866-510-2761...Citibank, SD and was told they would cancel it and send me a letter in the mail as confirmation. What a racquet!!

I have the same stuff showing on my credit report. I received an alert showing that citibank has opened an account, and I am one of those people who DID actually receive the opt out letter, which unfortunately I never looked at until it was too late. My question is....where is my new card?? Have they all been sent out? How is this on my credit report when I never activated a card, much less received it?

I'm caught up in this mess too. Any lawyers out there willing to take on a class action lawsuit?

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you. I got the same notification on my credit report. It was an old Macy's card that they had "upgraded" without my knowledge. I closed the account but the funny thing is, I closed that Macy's account years ago.

Thank you again.

:x Yes, this showed up on my credit reports as well!! My Macy card had been "inactive" for some time so they closed that and opened a CITI mastercard w/o my consent! It showed up under CITI, PO Box 6003, Hagerstown, MD 21747 and CITIBANK USA, NA/CCSMC-SPEC, same address, neither have phone # listed. After hours on the phone, here is the # to call 1-866-533-5440. Good luck!

I recently received a Citibank M/C and never applied for it. I called them and they said it was from my old Macy's account. Now I have an alert on my credit report from Prism

Thanks so much for all of your posts! I was freaking out. Also, call, cancell but also CALL AND COMPLAIN TO YOUR STATE'S ATTORNEY GENERAL OFFICE AND THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. I'm with boycotting Macy's!!!

Hi guest

you are absolutely right...we should exercise our rights :)

Take care
Nelly

Thank you to the person who supplied that toll free phone number, because of that I was able to resolve the issue and cancel the card

I would like to know how to get my FICO score reversed after having Citibank issue a card I did not ask for! Macy's bought out the department store I originally had a credit card with-when they became Macy's I cancelled the card. I did not receive anything in the mail prior to received a Citibank Master Card. This is rediculous! I am with the person who asked about Class-Action. Why should my credit score get hit because Citibank is greedy!!

Has anyone contacted Macy's about this? I plan on contacting them immediately. They are as much to blame as Citibank!!

heeyyyyyyy its a gud idea........contact them as soon as possible.

Take care
Nelly

Thank you so much for the fantastic information here! I spent two hours trying to get help from a credit reporting company to find out 'what' happened, never could get a real live person so I finally Googled the address and stumbled upon this forum. Thanks to you, and the 866 number provided in the posts here. I found out my Macys cards were converted to CB Mastercard and were mailed to the wrong address, but that no one activated it. I had great customer service from Citibank though when I called that number though, and the gentleman explained what happened and closed the account for me without problem.

Thanks to all who posted here. I have been trying to figure out what this was on my credit report for days. I didn't have any luck until I ran across this. It never occured to me it was my old Macys account which I closed in 2002. Without your help I would not have been able to resolve this issue.

I also received Masercard issued by Citibank without applying for it. This totally scared me. No, address shown nor did they provide a customer service 1-800 number. Thank you so much to the previous guests who provided the 1-800. I totally agree that this is unethical business and it is time to put a stop to all this nonsense.

I also received a credit report alert for three new accounts with the Hagertown, MD address. Thanks a lot you guys for the info. I think we should contact our Attorney General's Office and I think this should be a class action law suit. Its a ploy and hundreds and maybe even thousands of peoples credit scores are now affected and lowered because of this (and you mean to tell me it has to stay on my credit report for the next seven years). There must be something we can do about this. If there is anyone out there listening, please let us know. I'm willing to fight this.

Thank you to all of you for posting these notes about the inactive Macy's account being turned over to Citibank. I just called and cancelled the account.

I too received an alert and the refusal is the same as everyone else. They will not take it off my credit report. There has to be a way to do this. If anyone has any ideas I'm open.
Thanks

I received an alert from equifax to say a new account had been opened in my name with a limit of $7k!

I was in a panic at first as I thought I had become a victim of identity theft. :( I cannot believe that a company can just open up an account in your name without your knowledge. The actual card arrived in my mailbox about 10 days later. If I had been on vacation or had mo9ved someone could have picked it up and had a great time on my $7,000 card I didn't know I had! It has definately put me off going to Macys to shop in the future.

Thanks to you all for posting the info. on how to clear up the confusion and close the account.

I got an alert on my credit that a new account was opened in my name. I figured that it was the upgraded Citicard, but it was still on my credit report.

Called 1 866-510-2761 to confirm that I did cancel the card. The operator told me that should have gotten an "opt out letter" weeks before the card came in the mail. (which I did not get). The operator told me that he would transfer my request to remove the card from my credit report within 30 days since I did not get the opt out letter.

I am incensed as well. I used the number listed above(thank you) to cancel my card. I am going to contact my representative just to blow off some steam.

I blame the current administration and it's love affair with large creditors. ;)

Thanks to everyone who supplied info and a phone number to correct this, I just found the new Citibank card on my credit report and was horrified!
Citibank said it would be removed from my credit report in 60-90 days.

Thank you!

Thanks alot to the person that provided the number. We all should find away to be compensated for the loss, our credit score has be lowered, most of us did not receive the letter and did not authorise them to open the account. If anyone knows a way to take care of this problem please post it so we can take action immediately.
Thanks to all :twisted: :

Guys I just call citibank and asked them to remove this information from my credit report. they will remove it in 30-90 days. Thanks again eucalyptus.

I'd like to add my thanks as I had a similar situation. I received a credit watch alert indicating a new Citibank CC account had been opened in my name. I call 866 510-2761 and pressed 0 repeatedly until I got a person to speak with. Turns out Citi took over Radio Shack credit cards and converted it to a Citi card without my approval. This was done 5/1/08. They canceled the card for me on the call.

Thanks again,
RL

I am a Citibank employee and I work for the Citi mastercard section of Citicorp. The PRISM/CBSD card is a conversion card from an older account you have had in the past. This account could be a number of things let me give you a few examples. Goodyear, Macys, Sears, Citi Platinum visa/mastercard, Bailey Banks and biddle, Zales, Shell Oil, Texaco, ExxonMobil. This is an ongoing thing with Citi bank. They are converting older accounts that have been closed to a new Citi Mastercard so that you have more purchasing power and you are not limited to the Retail store of your Retail Private Label card ie. Zales, gordons, Bailey Banks and Biddle, Childrens Place, etc. Any company has the right to close your old account and reopen a new account as long as you are notified in writing and also as long as they do not inquire on your credit report. I take hundreds of calls a day from upset customers about this I would like to inform you that the person taking your call is not responsible for the opening of the new account, as a matter of fact the first time the customer service agent has ever talked to you will be when you call in. You can make your call very pleasent by calling in and simply saying I would like to close my Citi Mastercard account. You DO NOT have to verify any information, as long as the representative has your account number. Also, the phone number is listed on the back of the card to call in. I would like to apologize for the fright this might have caused you and the torment with having to deal with the automated system on the phones. The best times to call would be early in the morning EST. or after 9PM EST. Citi Mastercard customer service is open 24/7 for out valued customers and I do hope you decide to keep the account open with us. One more thing I would like to mention is the promotions only found on this cars. Any purchase over $99 is going to be put on a 90 day no interest thats 0% apr for 90 days, and any purchase over $299.00 is goig to be placed on a 6 month no intrest promotion. Thats 0% APR for 6 months. If you have other charge cards you can charge your purchases on a different one and save some money because the APR on the Citi Mastercards are a little high; however, if you have any charges over $99.00 you are going to save money because there is no intrest for the specified time. If you have any questions feel free to call in and ask in a nice manner and I as well as any of my other colleagues will be more than happy to assist you.

Is that Citibank employee kidding us. "Oh so sorry...by the way, can I sell you some more baloney" I recieved the citibank letter informing me I had three weeks to use my Macys card or it would be cancelled and turned into a Citi card. Drove an hour to the closets Macys, shopped, went to pay and was told the account had alleady been closed. Citi closed the Macys account before they even sent me the notice. Now I have to call them to cancel the account.That's a total of 4 negative marks on my credit.

Thanks to all who posted here. It helped me resolve a similar problem. This time it was a inactive Home Depot credit card being deactivated and citibank issuing a new, unsolicited-my-part credit card. I had great customer service from Citibank though when I called that number though, and the woman explained what happened and closed the account for me without problem.

This is the second account opened by these losers in my name in over a week. I caught it on my credit monitering and immediatedly placed a fraud alert on it. I will be contacting a laywer. I haven't had an active account with Citi in over 2 years. How can they just reopen old credit lines without any authorization? I was irrate last week, I'm through the roof pissed off now.

Does anyone know of a current suit or a lawyer willing to take these cases? I'd like to get involved

I had the same situation happen to my credit report. I've been trying to figure this out since October. I googled this information and also came across this blog. Had it not been for this blog I would never had figured out how this got on my credit score. I had an old Gordon's Jewelers credit card that was randomly upgraded to the citibank mastercard. Frank from citibank was kind enough to explain how it happened and also explained that the card was closed in October the very same month my disputes had been submitted. Thanks guys

Thanks for this site! My situation was not connected to a Macy's acct but related to a Citi Diamond acct which I had not used in quite some time. Citi Diamond closed my acct, without notice, and then opened a NEW acct with Citi Mastercard without my consent. When I called the Citi Diamond number they gave me a wrong number and had it not been for the blog I would not have been able to find the correct number 1-866-510-2761. Thanks Again

I did receive the 'opt out' letter from Macy's...did not respond to it...and now see that prism/cbsd has appeared on my credit report. I agree with many of you, that 'opt out' letter was BS and I am surprised that it is even legal.

Well, Citibank is STILL doing the same thing. My fraud alert monitor recently notified me by email that a new acct. was opened in my name - & just like many of you, I was on the phone for quite a while investigating, only to find out that it was my old Macy's account bought out by Citibank w/ which they reopened the acct. in my name as a Citibank Mastercard, & with a very high limit, much higher than I'd ever had w/ Macy's. Their customer service rep told me an "opt out" letter had been mailed to me 6 months ago & since I never responded they went ahead & opened this account. I'm so angry, this is such an unethical practice, I cannot believe this practice would not be considered illegal!

Macy's - converted to CitiBank----they mailed a letter, which people surly believed to be junk mail...

So I probably won't be doing business with them EVER -- many banks to do business with --- AMEX rules......

I recieved the same alert from Experian. I called Citibank who confirmed Citibank bought all old inactive Macy's cards and sent out new active Citibank cards

Thanks for providing the toll free number. That definitely saved me a lot of hassle time in investigating how a new account was activated without my permission when I was checking the credit bureau reports.

Thanks for providing the toll free number. That definitely saved me a lot of hassle time in investigating how a new account was activated without my permission when I was checking the credit bureau reports.

I'm so glad I found this forum! Thank you for posting all of this helpful information. I too realized that I had a new credit card account opened without my knowledge or authorization when my MyFico Scorewatch sent me an update on my credit score, which showed it went down. I then pulled my credit report to find out what Credit Card this was - I thought someone was maybe using my name or SS#, but no it was a scheme thought up by Citibank and Macys executives to drum up more business in these economic times. I typed in the info provided on my credit report: Citibank USA NA/CCSMC-SPEC and I came to this forum. I then called the number that "Frusterated" provided: 1-866-533-5440 to close the account (which also closes your Macys account as well). The representative was very defensive and rude on the phone defending Citibank and Macys saying that I should have received a letter in the mail informing me of this "Upgrade" and it was my fault that I did reply by the cut-off date. This is completely unethical for them to authorize an upgrade without my authorization - I can't believe they are getting away with this! Where is the oversight and regulation of these big companies trying to pull one over on the public. It is just getting worse and worse - they think they can do whatever they want - and it looks like they can! I am glad I closed my Macys account and I will certainly write a letter to the Macys credit department explaining my thoughts and I suggest we all do the same and think twice before shopping at Macys when they are plently of local shop owners who conduct business honestly and ethically.

I had a similar experience trying to get an account number when neither my card nor statement were available. No one at Citibank could find my account or even tell me where to call. The card and statement say nothing other than "Citibank", yet they act like the account does not exist.

The statement has a different contact number, but if you don't have the card or statement, they don't know how to find your account, or how to refer you to someone who does. Even branch personnel have no idea why they can't find the account. Heaven help someone who is traveling away from home and needs to contact customer service, because they are useless if it is Prism, and the customer doesn't know they have that kind of account

I closed a Home Depot card--or so I thought--but just ordered my free credit report online and not only does the old home Depot card show as open, but there is a new Citi card. I called the number given and was told that the new Citi card was opened as a new Home Depot card.

Hopefully both are now closed.

ARGH. WHY do they do this???? It is not going to make me more likely to shop at Home Depot, but just the opposite. And, I will NEVER open a Citi card because of this.

citi mastercard 1866 510 2761 is wrong.........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hi all. thanks to all who posted earlier. i received a copy of my credit report this summer and found a new citi bank mastercard on it. i was able to track the phone number based on earlier postings. i was told that my macy's account had been converted without, in my opinion, my formal consent. a new account was opened. it gets better. after my call in june i was told they would not remove the account from my credit report AND the account had been closed due to inactivity for 7 months. a double whammy to my credit which i monitor on a pretty regular basis. not only did they open the account in 2008, by 2009 they decide to close an account i never knew i had! i am extremely pissed and am inquiring as to whether or not anyone has pursued a class action law suit yet. this is clearly still happening to people. it is ridiculous. i have to now spend my precious time writing and trying to dispute this through citibank with no guaranteed result.

Dispute it through the credit reporting agency.

Sorry guys. My bad. I worked for Citi a few years back. After we bought the Sears Credit Card and all it's receivables, our legal team instructed us to close several million Sears accounts because they had been inactive for a number of years and we could no longer consider them "customers" in a legal sense.

We came up with a different idea.

Lending laws allow a credit card issuer to issue a customer an alternate card if the customer stops using one (it's called "migrating" an account in the credit card biz - and again, it's all perfectly legal). Before that card can be issued, an opt-out letter must be sent, along with all new interest rate and terms disclosures. If a person doesn't respond to that notice, the new card is issued and sent out.

So instead of closing all these accounts, we ran credit scores for them, and started the process of issuing new cards (the Prism Card) to those who were credit qualified. The terms on Prism were pretty good - low base interest rate, a true 6- or 12-months "same as cash" offers, cash incentives for spending $X on the card during the first few months. It was actually a very desirable card - for those that read the opt-out disclosure info. It was wildly successful - we reactivated a whole lot of accounts for not very much money. And a lot of people loved the new card - but obviously not all of you...

I left Citi in Jun 2006 and at that point the first mailing had been out for about 9 months. The balances on the Prism cards were way higher than we'd forecasted. The credit quality was all very good. And Citi had found a way to reactivate millions of accounts that it had acquired in the 2000's from a variety of card portfolios, including: Sears, Home Depot, Macy's/Bloomingdales/May's/Marshall Fields, Texaco/Chevron/BP/Amoco/Citgo/most other gas cards, just about any jewelry store that has a credit card, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, etc. As cards neared the threshold that Citi's lawyers told them they needed to close an account due to inactivity, they "migrated" them to Prism instead. If they still didn't activate, the Prism account eventually got closed as well. But the good terms and bonuses on Prism made it an attractive card. Lots of people used it. And we got lots of calls from non-Citi-customers asking how they could get one. But they couldn't. You had to be a Citi customer with a long-term inactive card and we had to make you the Prism offer. Don't call us, we'll call you.

That's how the whole thing worked. And it was all my doing. And I assure you, it was all perfectly legal. Sorry about the confusion...

BTW - I have no idea if they're still doing Prism. Everyone cut credit issuance a lot in 2008. I haven't talked to anyone back at Citi about it since about that time...

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