By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

Gift card scams, despite repeated warnings, have continued this spring in Otter Tail County. Sheriff deputies, on April 21, reported that a scam had been averted relating to a county resident who resides at Big McDonald Lake, northwest of Dent.

The county resident was initially contacted by a scammer who said he was a Social Security employee. He persuaded the county resident to purchase gift cards and said he would stop at her residence the next day to pick up the cards. The resident became suspicious, called the county sheriff office, and was told to call the sheriff office again if any person suspicious showed up at her residence. 

County deputies say that similar scenarios go somethings like this: A man or woman receives an email or phone call from a person he or she believes to be a member of a church or other entity. The scam victim then purchases a gift card and sends the gift card numbers to the scammer. Once those numbers are used, the money is gone and cannot be recovered by the person who was scammed.

As for phone calls, emails or text messages, never forward money or purchase iTune cards when a scammer says you need to send money to fix a computer problem or get a grandchild out of jail. And never give out any personal information such as Social Security numbers or bank account numbers.

If a computer is locked up, don’t respond to scammers who try to blackmail victims. Instead, use control, alt delete or use the shutoff button. After restarting your computer, you should be back to normal. If not, contact your computer advisor or call the county sheriff office at (218) 998-8555.

The county sheriff office again reminds residents of Otter Tail County, particularly senior citizens, of the need to continue to be vigilant and not become scam victims.