$14k of metro family’s money vanished. Bank says they spent it on Mercedes they don’t have

ATLANTA — Someone paid nearly $14,000 toward the bill for a luxury car from a metro Atlanta family’s bank account.

Now, the family says Wells Fargo is denying their attempts to get their money refunded.

“It was a total of about almost $14,000. We were shocked, absolutely shocked. So, they closed down all the accounts,” Ken Pischke told Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray.

New data just released from the U.S. government’s Federal Trade Commission finds Georgia ranked as the worst state in the entire country in the amount of fraud reported in the third quarter of 2023.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

It was Wells Fargo who alerted the Pischkes about suspicious activity on their account, so they expected a simple fix. But instead have received repeated claim denial letters.

“I mean, it’s a large sum of money, I think to anybody, it is to me.  They just blow it off like there’s no big deal,” Pischke said.

There were three transfers from Pischke’s bill pay to someone’s Mercedes Benz Financial Services account. The Pischkes say they don’t own a Mercedes.

But Wells Fargo wrote in a letter to the couple that “it was determined the transactions were authorized by you or someone you authorized. We have closed your claim.”

TRENDING STORIES:

• Atlanta officer fired gun at Emory University Hospital Midtown while chasing suspect, police say
• South Fulton K9 shot, killed by officer from another department during search for assault suspect
• Police report released in death of former ‘Extreme Weight Loss’ star, Atlanta makeup artist

Pischke provided Wells Fargo with the receipts, filed a police report and even reached out to Mercedes.

“They said, ‘That doesn’t make any difference. It’s still your wife is the one that actually did the transactions.’ Now, I’ve been married for 42 years. I would know if my wife would do something like that. And she doesn’t have a Mercedes in the garage either or anywhere else,” Pischke said.

Channel 2 Action News reached out to Wells Fargo who tells us in a statement: “While we can’t discuss the specifics of this customer’s situation for privacy and confidentiality reasons, we can confirm that we thoroughly researched the matter, and the evidence supports our decision.”

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:

Residents of burned Atlanta apartment building may soon file a lawsuit

©2023 Cox Media Group