Olivia Crellin
Anonymous blackmailers are threatening to spread Ebola in the Czech Republic if the country's government does not pay them a million euros, in Bitcoin.
An email allegedly from the blackmailers, published on Monday by the country's top commercial TV station TV Nova, claimed they had "biological material" from an infected patient in Liberia.
"An unknown perpetrator or perpetrators are blackmailing this state, threatening to spread the Ebola virus," Zdenek Laube, the country's deputy police chief, told reporters, according to AFP.
Bohuslav Sobotka, the Czech Republic's prime minister, called the blackmailers "hyenas" for taking advantage of the fear caused by the recent Ebola threat.
Blackmailers reportedly demanded the one million euros of the virtual currency be payable in three installments.
The Czech Republic's interior ministry issued a public statement saying that "the culprit or culprits are using very sophisticated communication methods," but did not elaborate on what those methods might be.
The Czech Republic currently has no confirmed cases of Ebola, although has had several scares this month.
The first was a businessman who returned from Liberia in early October and was taken to a hospital in Prague before ultimately testing negative to the virus. After a woman was also admitted to a hospital in the capital, the country started to screen passengers coming through Prague's international airport who had visited the affected areas of Africa in the past 42 days, despite the fact that no flights go directly from West Africa to Prague's airport.
It is this panic blackmailers are hoping to exploit, said Zdenek Laube, the country's deputy police chief.
"From the very beginning these culprits have been seeking to spread panic, which is their primary goal," said Laube.. https://news.vice.com/article/blackmailers-are-threatening-the-czech-republic-with-ebola-for-bitcoin-payment
Anonymous blackmailers are threatening to spread Ebola in the Czech Republic if the country's government does not pay them a million euros, in Bitcoin.
An email allegedly from the blackmailers, published on Monday by the country's top commercial TV station TV Nova, claimed they had "biological material" from an infected patient in Liberia.
"An unknown perpetrator or perpetrators are blackmailing this state, threatening to spread the Ebola virus," Zdenek Laube, the country's deputy police chief, told reporters, according to AFP.
Bohuslav Sobotka, the Czech Republic's prime minister, called the blackmailers "hyenas" for taking advantage of the fear caused by the recent Ebola threat.
Blackmailers reportedly demanded the one million euros of the virtual currency be payable in three installments.
The Czech Republic's interior ministry issued a public statement saying that "the culprit or culprits are using very sophisticated communication methods," but did not elaborate on what those methods might be.
The Czech Republic currently has no confirmed cases of Ebola, although has had several scares this month.
The first was a businessman who returned from Liberia in early October and was taken to a hospital in Prague before ultimately testing negative to the virus. After a woman was also admitted to a hospital in the capital, the country started to screen passengers coming through Prague's international airport who had visited the affected areas of Africa in the past 42 days, despite the fact that no flights go directly from West Africa to Prague's airport.
It is this panic blackmailers are hoping to exploit, said Zdenek Laube, the country's deputy police chief.
"From the very beginning these culprits have been seeking to spread panic, which is their primary goal," said Laube.. https://news.vice.com/article/blackmailers-are-threatening-the-czech-republic-with-ebola-for-bitcoin-payment
