Wire service key to scam in Millinocket

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MILLINOCKET – The Hannaford Supermarket on Central Street might have been targeted by an international extortion scam Wednesday because of its Western Union wire service outlet, an FBI spokesman said Thursday.

All the banks, grocery and discount stores targeted nationwide by the bomb threat telephone calls since last Thursday have wire service or money transfer capabilities, said Special Agent Jason Pack of the FBI’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.

“They are not all necessarily Western Union,” Pack said Thursday. “They are a couple of different wire services. Some are bank branches inside superstores … They are all stores or banks that have the capability to send money overseas.”

FBI crime analysts are sifting through local police reports to find more commonalities while investigators from 12 FBI field offices are pursuing leads that Pack called promising. No arrests have occurred, although FBI investigators are close to identifying at least one suspect.

The FBI believes the calls originated overseas from a single person or group, possibly in Portugal, Pack said, but he does not believe that the caller has been captured on audio tape yet.

Law enforcement officials say the caller claims to have a bomb, sees inside the store, and orders the store to send money to an account through an in-store money transfer service such as Western Union. In at least one case, the destination has been Portugal, and one threat has been answered with a $10,000 wire transfer.

The Hannaford at 805 Central St. was locked down and 36 customers and workers forced to sit on the cold tile floor near the courtesy desk for almost three hours after an unidentified man telephoned at about 9:22 a.m. Wednesday and demanded money.

“This is a threat. Don’t put me on hold,” the caller reportedly said to employee Linda Day. Day was at first incredulous, saying “What?” before handing the phone over to a person who verified the threat.

No one was hurt. No bomb was found, and no money taken. Details about how much money the caller demanded were not released, although typically the callers have demanded $3,000 to $10,000 be wired to them, law enforcement officials said.

The response of several police agencies and their subsequent investigation virtually shut down a large section of Central Street in Millinocket for much of the day. The 36 were released at noon and the store and street reopened shortly after 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

As of 3 p.m. Thursday, only one new scam attempt, in Montgomery, Ala., was reported, Pack said. Details were not immediately available.

Montgomery joins Millinocket; Sandy, Ore.; Buchanan, Mich.; Hutchinson, Kan.; and larger cities, including Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Detroit, and Philadelphia, as places where such calls have been placed, officials said.

Bomb threats have occurred at more than 15 stores in at least 11 states within the past week. An exact number has not yet been released.

In the case in Hutchinson, Kan., in addition to ordering workers to send him money, the caller also ordered customers and employees to disrobe and threatened to force them to cut off a manager’s fingers.

Millinocket Police Chief Don Bolduc did not return telephone calls Thursday seeking comment.

The FBI was due Thursday afternoon to post to its Web site, fbi.gov, a list of steps businesses could take to avoid being victimized by the scam, Pack said.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.

THE FBI ADVISES

Businesses that get a bomb threat call to do the following:

1. Record the call, if possible.

2. Ask the caller:

. When is the bomb going to explode?

. Where is the bomb located right now?

. What does it look like?

. What kind of bomb is it?

. What will cause it to explode?

. Did you place the bomb? Why?

. What is your name and address?

3. Document the EXACT wording of the threat and caller’s response.

4. Apparent gender, race, age of the caller.

5. Characteristics of the caller’s voice (calm, angry, excited, accent, etc.).

6. Background Sounds (street noises, static on the line, etc.).

7. Threat Language (Well spoken, incoherent, taped, irrational?).

SOURCE: The Federal Bureau of Investigation