Threats via email: BKA searches online group "Schweinetreff"

The Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) today, Tuesday, carried out searches of four suspected members of the online group "Schweinetreff". Two of them are minors. The accused and a juvenile witness were the targets of the measures in Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt.

The prosecutors accuse the individuals of being members of a criminal organization for the purpose of nationwide bomb threats. During the searches, investigators seized numerous electronic devices and storage media, writes the responsible General Public Prosecutor's Office Frankfurt am Main – Central Office for the Prosecution of Cybercrime (ZIT).

The officers explain that they accuse the suspected perpetrators of being "responsible as part of a supra-regional perpetrator group for hundreds of threatening emails with feigned nationwide bomb threats against schools, main train stations, shopping centers, and other urban and public facilities". The threats triggered hundreds of police operations. "Even if threats turn out to be false alarms, they are generally taken seriously and each individual case is examined."

Threats with far-reaching consequences

In such cases, police authorities clear and evacuate affected buildings, cordon off large parts of public spaces, or interrupt public local and long-distance transport. Even though no bombs were detonated, the evacuations triggered across Germany caused property damage in the five-figure euro range. The criminal investigators also point to the psychological effects, for example, on pupils and teachers. Furthermore, there is a danger that, due to the feigned cases, those posing a real threat might be overlooked.

The perpetrator group met purely virtually and communicated in a closed messenger group called "Schweinetreff". The goal was to disturb "public peace by threatening criminal offenses to the detriment of life and limb", to trigger as many operations as possible, and to create as much uncertainty in the population as possible – in order to "enjoy" the reaction and attention. To reinforce this, the threatening emails also mentioned Islamist intentions and references. However, the investigations did not yield any evidence of religiously motivated acts.

The "Schweinetreff" members were also active in Austria. There too, evacuation measures were necessary, which would have caused high economic damage. In cooperation between Austrian and German investigators, comprehensive evidence was secured and insights into the suspected perpetrators and their networks were gained. This ultimately led to the identification of the four accused from Germany.

"Criminal offenses committed online do not go unpunished, as perpetrators can expect consistent prosecution at any time," conclude the BKA and ZIT. Most recently, about a year ago, they took action together against against systematic cyberbullying and cyberstalking. The online group targeted by investigators at the time called itself "New World Order" (NWO).

(dmk)