The law-enforcement authorities in the US are investigating bomb threats received by grocery operators and other stores across the United States demanding gift cards, bitcoin or money, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The report said retail firms including Kroger, Walmart, Amazon’s Whole Foods Market, and some others, received bomb threats at their stores in recent months. The caller threatened to detonate bombs if payments were not made, the report added.
In Chicago, a caller told a Whole Foods Market employee that a pipe bomb had been placed in the store and demanded $5,000 in bitcoin, the WSJ reported. At a Kroger-owned store in New Mexico, an employee received a call from a suspect who asked her to wire money and said a bomb would go off if she called the police, the WSJ report added.
The police found no suspicious items in the store after they searched the location following a complaint from the employees.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States) said it is working with local and state law-enforcement officials over the threats. The FBI has requested public to maintain awareness of their surroundings and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.
The police said they are investigating the threats, but the callers have been difficult to track down because they use blocked phone numbers.
The authorities are also unclear to whether the threats are part of an organized effort and where the callers are located. So far individual stores haven’t received more than one threat and some callers didn’t demand payment, police added.
Law-enforcement officials said every call should be taken seriously. They appealed the businesses not to give money to the callers; and asked the store staff talking to the callers to get as much information as possible to help identify the culprits.
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Updated: 25 Jun 2023, 09:33 PM IST
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