Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2020

File: 20-33934, 20-33956

Victoria, BC – Investigators are warning the public after four reports of a Canada-wide suspected bomb threat hoax targeting local businesses.

In this bomb threat suspected to be a hoax, businesses are targeted by an email threatening that their business will be attacked with a bomb if they do not transfer funds to a bitcoin account within 80 hours. Businesses across Canada have received these threats. Investigations have not turned up any evidence of explosives, leading officers to believe that these threats are a suspected hoax designed to use fear to extort money.

If you receive an email making these threats, do not send bitcoin to the scammers. Please call our non-emergency line at (250) 995-7654 and select extension 1 for our report desk to report the incident. For more information on how to avoid falling victim to fraud, please visit vipd.ca/fraud.

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