Dozens of Bomb Threats Reported Across America In Apparent Bitcoin Ransom Scam (gizmodo.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: On Wednesday afternoon, a wave of bomb threats were reported at various locations across the United States. On social media, numerous law enforcement departments issued alerts notifying citizens that they're looking into bomb threats targeting businesses, schools, government offices and even private residents. It appears the threats are being sent by email. NBC News said "dozens" of threats had been reported, but the full extent of these threats is not yet clear. A number of news organizations and law enforcement agencies report remarkably similar sounding emails mentioning a bitcoin ransom of $20,000. And some Twitter users have shared emails they've received demanding the cryptocurrency and warning that an explosion would only encourage others to pay up. NBC News quoted the NYPD's Counterterrorism Bureau's brief statement on the investigation: "We are currently monitoring multiple bomb threats that have been sent electronically to various locations throughout the city. These threats are also being reported to other locations nationwide and are not considered credible at this time."

Comments

I got one of these today.

[WolfgangVL]

My first bomb threat! The ransom was typed as $20.00 in BTC, not 20000.00. He also said it was just business, and he was not responsible for any property damage. It was an entertaining read, the whole office got a kick out of it, and talk of involving the FIB just led to stories about how the cops never do anything anyway, may find a way to pin it on you for making the call, and if we're gonna waste time at work, we don't need no fed telling us how.

Email was spoofed or compromised from some used car salesmen in Boise, ID. I'm sure it's gonna be an entertaining morning for that dude.