US retailers targeted with bomb threats, seeking bitcoin and gift cards, Wall Street Journal reports

Law-enforcement officials and retailers are investigating a recent wave of bomb threats across the United States, targeting grocery operators and other stores, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

Retail companies including Kroger (KR.N), Walmart (WMT.N) and Amazon’s (AMZN.O) Whole Foods Market, among others, have received bomb threats at their stores in recent months, the report said, adding some callers demanded gift cards, bitcoin or money and threatened to detonate bombs if payments were not made.

A Kroger spokesperson confirmed the suspicious activities at various Kroger locations, adding the company is “working closely with local law enforcement and the FBI to investigate similar threats that have taken place around the country at many retail stores.”

These threats have been spread across various areas from New Mexico to Wisconsin. At a Kroger-owned store in New Mexico, an employee received a call from a suspect who asked her to wire money and said a bomb would go off if she called the police.

Read more: Reuters