Mumbai Airport Faces Blast Threat, $1M in Bitcoin Demanded

• The sender of the email reportedly demanded $1 million in Bitcoin within 48 hours.
• The internet protocol address of the sender has been traced, and investigation is underway.

The Police Department of Mumbai, India said that on Thursday, the Mumbai International Airport (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport) got a ‘threat’ message suggesting to blow up Terminal 2 of the airport. Furthermore, to prevent the explosion at Terminal 2, the sender of the email reportedly demanded $1 million in Bitcoin within 48 hours.

Mumbai Police stated:

“Sahar police have registered a case against an unknown person for sending the threat mail using the email [email protected].”

Investigation Underway

Authorities said that at about 11 a.m. on Thursday, the email was sent to the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) feedback mailbox.

The threat mail read:

“Subject: Blast. Text: This is a final warning to your airport. We will blast Terminal 2 within 48 hours unless one million dollars in Bitcoin is transferred to the address. Another alert will be after 24 Hrs.”

Moreover, the sender’s internet protocol (IP) address has been traced, and an investigation is now ongoing. Also, section 385 (creating fear or alarm to the society for the intention of extortion) and section 505 (1) (b) (assertions made with purpose to create fear or alarm to the society for the intention of extortion) of the Indian Penal Code have been used against the unidentified individual.

Analysts have warned that bad actors may use cryptocurrency to raise money due to its anonymity, global reach, and use of intermediaries who work in regulatory limbo. Moreover, criminals may be tracked using the public digital ledgers where cryptocurrency transactions are recorded. However, But bad actors do find a method to circumvent.

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