Major US retailers, including Walmart, Kroger, & Whole Foods, face bomb threats demanding cash or cryptocurrency. Authorities investigate potential larger plot.
Threats against businesses, airports, political groups, and schools are not uncommon, but the report notes a new wrinkle in bomb threat calls to retailers: demands for cash, cryptocurrency, or gift cards.
Stores like Walmart, Kroger, and Whole Foods are getting threats and ransom demands all around the country this year.
According to the Journal, a caller threatened to blow up a Whole Foods near Chicago unless the company paid him $5,000 in bitcoin.
According to the article, a bomb threat forced the evacuation of a Kroger store in New Mexico after an employee received a call demanding money be wired and threatening to explode the bomb if she phoned the authorities.
According to the Journal, the retailers and local and federal law officials are investigating the threats to determine if they are isolated events or part of a larger plot.
Two Wisconsin Meijer stores allegedly got bomb threats within hours of each other on the same day in May. The second incident was a threat made to a business in Grafton, Wisconsin, which likewise reportedly wanted $5,000 in Apple gift cards.
In none of these cases were any potentially dangerous or explosive items discovered.
A Grafton police department public information officer told the Journal that most requests for money or gift cards made through telephone are frauds, but that these requests should not be ignored.
According to an internal memo obtained by the media, Whole Foods has instructed managers to hold meetings with staff to discuss bomb threat procedures.
Retailers have faced further threats in recent months. Earlier this month, bomb threats to local media outlets led to the evacuation of a number of Target shops across numerous states.
Target’s response to the reaction it received for their Pride Month line of merchandise and clothes was the apparent motivation for the threatening texts.
Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen informed the media source that the company was cooperating with law enforcement and the FBI in response to the threat. Both Walmart and Whole Foods have stated that they followed the advice of law enforcement personnel.
Insider’s attempts for comment made outside of business hours to Walmart, Whole Foods, Meijer, and Kroger went unanswered.
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