By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent 

Sheriff deputies, on Feb. 19, reported that a county resident who lives near Rush Lake, north of Ottertail city, reported a scam attempt. The resident did not become a scam victim and no loss of money took place.

“The resident received an email demanding money to prevent the sender from releasing sensitive information about her internet usage,” said a county deputy. “The email had generic information about the county resident, appearing to be from a foreign sender.”

The deputy said the email was a typical scam attempt seen by the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office in previous months. The resident near Rush Lake was advised to delete the email and not open any attachments.

Bitcoin attempt reported

Sheriff deputies, on Feb. 15, reported that a county resident called them about a bitcoin scam attempt. Fortunately, no financial loss took place.

“The county resident reported to us that he received a phishing (deceptive) text that appeared to be from PayPal,” said a sheriff deputy. “The complainant was not familiar with purchases that were made by the text messages.”

Deputies advised the county resident that it was likely an illegal text and to not submit any personal information. The resident was also advised to contact his bank to make sure no charges were made to his account.

Bitcoin scammers may also use fake websites, celebrity endorsements and other pressure tactics to persuade people to invest in cryptocurrency.

Ottertail city road accident

One person was injured Feb. 15 in a two-vehicle accident in the community of Ottertail. The accident took place at 2:59 p.m. at the intersection of West Main Street and North Lake Avenue.

A caller, who received minor injuries, called authorities and said that she was t-boned by another vehicle. The drivers exchanged information. A state accident report was completed.