Houston man loses $20K after 'fraud alert’ — handing over his bank card to someone posing as Wells Fargo agent

Vawn Himmelsbach

Sat, Jul 12, 2025, 12:30 PM 5 min read

You wouldn’t hand over your bank card to a complete stranger on your doorstep — or would you?

Imposter scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated and it may be easier to fall victim than you might realize. Scott Merkovitch was one such victim who lost $20,000 after he got a call on May 16 from what he thought was his bank.

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“They told me that there was fraud alerts on my account on a couple of charges that they didn’t feel like were mine,” he told Fox 26 Houston in a story published July 1.

The caller was also able to tell Merkovitch about valid transactions in his account “which, again, is what gave me the kind of assurance that I was talking to a real person,” he said.

Merkovitch was told a security representative from Wells Fargo would soon show up at his home.

Footage captured by Merovitch’s football camera and shared with the broadcaster appears to show a woman walking up to his front door. Merovitch says she identified herself and gave him a code that the caller had shared with him.

Believing her to be a legitimate employee from Wells Fargo, Merovitch says he gave her his card. She then cut it in half with a pair of scissors, sealed the pieces in an envelope and drove off.

An hour and a half later, over $20,000 had been withdrawn from Merovitch’s account from ATMs a few miles from home, he says.

Merovitch filed a police report, per Fox 26, and a few days after the incident he received a notice from Wells Fargo — this one was legitimate.

“They basically accused me of transferring the money into the accounts and then authorizing the charges,” he said. He thinks blaming him “is just the easy way out for a gigantic organization.”

Wells Fargo told Fox 26 the bank would take another look at Merovitch’s case.

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The broadcaster reports Merovitch’s case is similar to another pair of Wells Fargo customers who fell victim to a similar scheme earlier this year.