Emailed Bomb Threatens
Various tense situations broke out this week across North America, as hundreds of business received bomb threats.
The threats came in the form of an email, which was received around 11:00am on the 13th of December. The threat was simple – Pay $20,000 in BTC,or a bomb will go off. Thankfully, due to the diligence of Police forces across the continent, these threats were investigated and found to be fake. Throughout the course of the day, various law enforcement agencies released statements, reassuring the public.
Notably, Canada received threats in many of its major city centres. Due to the seriousness of the threats, the OPP has announced that they are launching an investigation into the matter.
Locations of Note
This situation was one that had a widespread effect. With regards to Canada, below are just a few of the city centres to have received these threats.
- Toronto (Kings Subway Station)
- Winnipeg
- Montreal
- Ottawa
- Vancouver
- Calgary
- Penticton
With the sheer number of city centres receiving threats, itis clear that the assailants were relying on high numbers. They would send out as many threats as possible, and hope that one would work.
Who Did It?
As of now, the individuals behind the attack remain unknown. With the amount of law agencies involved, it is only a matter of time before this information becomes known.
While some of the emails have been traced back to Russian IP addresses, many believe that the email wording was reminiscent of the well-known ‘Nigerian Prince’ scams. Each of these scenarios could easily be faked however, playing the role of a red herring.
Types of Threats
This threat of public violence for BTC is not one that is commonly seen. Over the course of 2018,the public has been subjected to various methods of BTC theft. Below are a few of those methods, and how they work:
Extortion
- Many Canadians are the victims of extortion, as they receive threatening phones calls from individuals allegedly working for the CRA. The victims are threatened with legal action and jail time, unless BTC is used to pay off their ‘debt’. These scams have been linked back, primarily, to India.
Ransom
- Various Ontario towns have had their computer systems hijacked. Criminals will gain access, and lock out system users unless a fee in is paid in BTC. There have been instances of this method working, sadly.
Blackmail
- Many people have computer habits that they would like to keep private. In some instances, hackers will acquire a person’s private information, and threaten to expose it unless paid BTC.
Violence
- As discussed in this article, we are now seeing threats of violence in an attempt to dupe people out of their BTC. While in this instance there are no reports of people falling for the scheme, this method will no doubt continue to pop up in the future.
