Hoax Bomb Extortion Emails Are Latest Scam

In the last couple of days there are reports of hoax bomb threats being sent by e-mail. They’ve been particularly prevalent in the USA, but there is nothing to stop them spreading. They’ve targeted schools, government facilities and some businesses.The e-mail claims that there is a bomb planted on the premises. This “bomb” will detonate at the end of the day if a ransom is not paid. The premises is said to be under surveillance and if an evacuation or arrival of the authorities occurs, the bomb will be detonated.

Hoax bomb e-mail

Subject: Think twice
There is the bomb (tronitrotoluene) in the building where your business is located. My recruited person constructed an explosive device under my direction. It has small dimensions and it is hidden very well, it is impossible to damage the supporting building structure by my bomb, but there will be many wounded people if it detonates.
My man is controlling the situation around the building. If any unnatural behavior, panic or emergency is noticed he will power the device.
I want to suggest you a deal. You send me $20’000 in Bitcoin and the bomb will not detonate, but do not try to fool me -I warrant you that I have to call off my man solely after 3 confirmations in blockchain network.
My payment details (Bitcoin address)- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX <redacted>
You must pay me by the end of the workday. If the working day is over and people start leaving the building explosive will explode.
This is just a business, if I do not see the money and the bomb detonates, next time other commercial enterprises will send me a lot more, because this is not a single incident.
I wont enter this email. I check my Bitcoin wallet every 40 min and after seeing the payment I will order my mercenary to leave your district.
If an explosion occurred and the authorities see this letter:
We arent a terrorist society and do not assume responsibility for explosions in other places.

Needless to say it is a hoax bomb threat. It is similar to the sextortion scam that I warned about last July.

I love the last line. “We arent (sic) a terrorist society …” I think the evil doers are a little bit scared that the anti-terror units will come after them. They should be scared … but of all law enforcement. They will come down hard on these guys. In fact the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) have advised people to:

• Do not respond or try to contact the sender.
• Do not pay the ransom.
• Report the email to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

The concern about the volume of these types of threats though, is that they will tie up first responder resources while the hoax bomb is being investigated.

Lets be careful out there.

#SecuritySimplified