City among targets in e-extort bomb threats

A wave of online bomb threats aimed at extorting Bitcoin swept across New York City and state, plus much of the US and Canada on Thursday, leaving cities on edge and investigators hunting for the source.

Hundreds of e-mails — some bearing the subject line “Think Twice” — popped up in US cities ranging from San Francisco to Cincinnati to Tampa, as well as in Canada, where threats were reported in Ottawa and Calgary.

“Hello. There is an explosive device (Tetryl) in the building where your company is conducted,” read the creepy missive, slight variations of which were sent from multiple e-mail addresses to businesses, schools and hospitals, including 30 to 40 targets in New York City.

The sender went on to say that the buildings were being watched by a “recruited person” and that the bombs would be detonated if the authorities were called or their demand for payment via cryptocurrency wasn’t met by the close of business Thursday.

“I want to offer you a bargain. 20.000 dollars is the cost for your life. Pay it to me in [Bitcoin] and I warrant that I have to withdraw my mercenary and the de- vice won’t explode,” the letter threatened.

The NYPD — one of dozens of local and federal agencies investigating the threats — tweeted, “NO DEVICES have been found,” and “the credibility of these threats can be assessed as likely NOT CREDIBLE.”