Today's nation-wide hoax bomb threat emails written like Nigerian prince scam

WARREN

The Trumbull County Family Court was among locations across the country that received a bomb threat today, causing the Main Avenue facility downtown to be evacuated about 2:30 p.m.

The Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Family Court and searched for a bomb and found none. Everyone was allowed to return to the facility around 3:15 p.m., said Scott Bombeck, family court administrator.

One clue that the emailed threat might not be specific to the Trumbull County Family Court was learning that a court in Geauga County had also received an identical threat, Bombeck said.

Among those evacuated were the juveniles in the detention facility, who were taken from the facility in vans.

In fact dozens of institutions across the country received email threats Thursday afternoon, causing evacuations and sweeps of buildings.

Authorities say bomb threats sent Thursday to dozens of schools, government buildings and other locations across the U.S. appear to be a hoax.

The emails were written in a choppy style reminiscent of the Nigerian prince email scam. Some of them had the subject line: “Think Twice.” The sender claimed to have had an associate plant a small bomb in the recipient’s building and that the only way to stop him from setting it off was by making an online payment of $20,000 in Bitcoin.

Read more about the matter in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.