Fake Bomb Threats Now Distributed In Russia Through Swiss Internet Service - Russia's FSB

Daniyal Sohail Published January 29, 2020 | 02:24 PM

Since the so-called email terrorists continue distributing fake bomb threats to Russian facilities and are now using Swiss internet service ProtonMail, the service will be blocked in the country, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2020) Since the so-called email terrorists continue distributing fake bomb threats to Russian facilities and are now using Swiss internet service ProtonMail, the service will be blocked in the country, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday.

The FSB said last week that thousands of anonymous bomb threats had been sent via Dutch internet service StartMail. Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor blocked access to StartMail in Russia, but schools, courts and hospitals across the country continue receiving threats.

"From January 24, anonymous users have been using Protonmail.com email service (Switzerland) to continue their criminal activities. Similar messages with bomb threats were sent to emails of courts located in four [federal] subjects across Russia.

Texts also mentioned 830 allegedly mine-infested objects of social and transport infrastructure. All the threats were fake," the FSB said in a press release.

According to the FSB, this internet service was already used for distributing fake bomb threats to 123 facilities across Russia last year.

The FSB added that access to the service was blocked in Russia starting Wednesday.

Since November, a massive wave of bomb threats has hit Russian institutions, including schools, kindergartens, shopping malls, as well as metro stations, prompting mass evacuations. So far, no explosive devices have been found following the messages, with all of them being just hoaxes.