Resident purchased gift cards to finalize car sale

By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent 

A resident of Otter Tail County, on Jan. 2, was scammed and lost $100 while thinking he was finalizing a car purchase online. The county resident forwarded $100 worth of gift cards to the scammer, believing that the would-be seller would come to the home of the county resident with the vehicle to complete the transaction.

Instead, the would-be seller never showed up at the home of the county resident. Once gift card numbers are used, the money is gone and cannot be recovered by the person who was scammed. In this case the Otter Tail County resident lost $100.

If something seems too good to be true it probably is untrue, emphasize county sheriff deputies. An example is when a caller says you have just won a prize of $5,000, but in order to claim the prize money you need to send $250 for handling fees. This is a scam attempt.

Phone call scams and computer scams can be avoided if county residents remain cautious and don’t fall for scare tactics. Never click on questionable email attachments. 

People who say they are from the IRS more often than not are scam artists who are nasty on the phone and make threats. Real-life IRS staff people who are legitimate send inquiries through the mail.