Businesses and schools across the U.S. were evacuated because of a bomb threat hoax Thursday, according to law enforcement, and the hoax threats also targeted businesses in Vancouver.
None of the threats, in Vancouver or elsewhere, appeared to be legitimate, and were described by authorities as crude extortion schemes.
The Vancouver Police Department said Thursday it received multiple calls from area businesses about emails containing bomb threats.
The department said no suspicious devices had been found, and there were no known victims who have complied with the threat and experienced any monetary loss.
Some of the emails received elsewhere had the subject line: “Think Twice,” the Associated Press reported. They were sent from a spoofed email address. Their senders claimed to have had an associate plant a small bomb in recipients’ buildings and that the only way to stop them from going off was by making an online payment of $20,000 in bitcoin, according to the AP.
The Vancouver police asked anyone who gets one of the emails to save a copy and call 911 to make a report.
The FBI said it is assisting law enforcement agencies that are dealing with the threats.
“As always, we encourage the public to remain vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activities which could represent a threat to public safety,” the FBI said in a statement.
