Several high-profile hotels in India have recently received email threats. The sender claims to be a member of the international terror outfit Al Qaeda. The message: pay up or face grave consequences, reports Mid Day.
The mail was received by a five-star hotel in Gurgaon, as also by Raj Vilas Palace in Bikaner, Radisson in Jaipur, Hiralal in Bikaner among others. The mail had the subject- 'Confidential message about your hotel'.
It read, "My name is Abdullah Rahman, I am the Secretary-General to Al Qaeda Sunni Movement and the Chief Editor in charge of Black List. I hope you have heard about the famous September 11 attack in the US, the Marriott hotel bombing on September 2008 and other Al Qaeda activities? Marriott hotel and Mumbai hotels were bombed because they thought it was a joke and refused to listen when I told them that their name is on the Al Qaeda's black list."
The mail goes on to say, "I just want to secretly reveal to you that your hotel name appeared in the second list among the hotels that Al Qaeda will bomb this year following the report of dirty activities going on at your place. The list is still with me. Al Qaeda has decided to launch a great suicide bomb attack on your hotel, as your hotel's was the only name that appeared from your country. The only way out for you now is to negotiate with me."
The mail says, "You have limited time for this negotiation, and I do not have time for long talks. What I am assuring you is that once you pay 3,500 pounds or its equivalent in rupees to my receiving agent in London or India, once you make your payment and it has been confirmed by me, I will delete your hotel details and send a confirmation to you."
After receiving this mail, cases have been registered with the local police and the matter is being investigated.
Cyber crime experts have located the IP of the mail. "I have traced the mail's origin to Germany. The way the mail mentions money transfer does not sound like the act of a terror outfit. It could be a cyber crime gang trying to make money by threatening hotels, saying they are on the terror radar," said Sunny Vaghela, a cyber crime expert, who was approached by a Gurgaon hotel to decode the threat mail.
"But the government should not take this lightly and must trace the account number mentioned in the mail and must nab the sender as it can easily create panic," Vaghela added.
