Scammer Threatens to Infect Computer, Demands Bitcoin

The Mower County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about a ‘trojan horse’ computer scam.

According to the sheriff’s office, a rural Austin resident reported receiving an e-mail from a person claiming to have infected his computer with a virus.

The victim told authorities the suspect had his current computer virus and threatened to share personal information from the computer to everyone on the victim’s contact list unless he paid $834 in Bitcoin.

The victim told authorities that he changed his password and did not give the suspect any money.

Investigators are advising people to change their passwords often and to not make them too obvious by using public information like your name or birth date.

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