Police, RCMP probe emailed bomb threats

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2018 (1960 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police and Manitoba RCMP are investigating after bomb threats were emailed Thursday to businesses and workplaces throughout Manitoba, across Canada and the U.S.

The threats demanded ransom payments in Bitcoin, which Manitoba RCMP advised recipients not to provide.

“If you have been the recipient of one of these email threats, please do not respond to the Bitcoin demand,” the Mounties said on Twitter. 

“We are aware and investigating email threats that were sent to multiple businesses in communities throughout Manitoba. (We are) determining the origin & validity of the threats. Investigation is ongoing. Updates to follow.”

The Winnipeg Police Service sent out a press release Thursday afternoon saying a number of bomb threats were sent to email accounts of local businesses throughout the city. Winnipeg police said they were aware of similar threats made throughout Canada and the United States.

The Winnipeg Police Service said officers were going to each location that has received a threat “and all necessary precautions are being taken.”

“The WPS is taking these threats seriously, however, none of threats have been substantiated,” the police said.

In Winnipeg, the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce building on Portage Avenue downtown received the bomb-threat email, said president and chief executive officer Chuck Davidson. So did the Manitoba Métis Federation on Henry Avenue.

Last week, Great-West Life Assurance Company temporarily shut down five buildings in Winnipeg, forcing 5,000 employees to stay home from work on Dec. 5 after threats were made against the insurance giant.

South of the border, the New York Police Department’s counter-terrorism unit issued a tweet Thursday afternoon saying that it was “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.”

Thursday morning, emails went out to schools and businesses across the U.S., the technology news website GeekWire reported Thursday.

It said the University of Washington issued an alert, saying the emails were likely spam sent to numerous organizations around the country, and not a credible threat, but the university police services still swept buildings on campus.

In Manitoba, neither Red River College nor the University of Manitoba received any threatening emails, spokesmen for the post-secondary schools said Thursday.

— With files from Danton Unger  

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca