Authorities were mobilised at 7:30 p.m. last night following threatening emails claiming bombs had been planted in private establishments as part of an extortion attempt for money, which were later proven to be a hoax.
The sender of the emails initially targeted the management of a private hospital in Nicosia and subsequently two hotels in Limassol, demanding large sums in cryptocurrency.
The sender threatened to detonate explosive devices allegedly placed within the premises if their demands were not met.
The cases were reported to the police, who conducted thorough checks with bomb disposal experts, confirming that it was an attempted fraud aimed at extorting money.
In the case of the two hotels, the demanded amount was $75,000 in cryptocurrency, while for the private hospital, the amount was $25,000.
According to police spokesperson Kyriaki Lambrianidou, the threatening emails were sent from a specific country outside the European Union. She also noted that similar scams have been attempted in other countries.
Investigations are ongoing to identify the sender of the threatening messages.
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