More than 160 false bomb threats have been reported in schools in France since the start of the year, with no region spared. Several alleged perpetrators of these threats were arrested.
Eight schools in Grenoble were evacuated and closed this Thursday, October 5. The reason ? Bomb threats received by every school, middle school or high school. Two other threats of this kind were reported in the department of Isère earlier in the week. But these false alarms are far from being the first, they have even become a phenomenon: more than 160 schools have been the target of false bomb threats since the beginning of the year. However, falsely terrorist threats have become particularly widespread since the start of the school year in September 2023 and half of the French departments are affected, more precisely 46 according to the national police.
For each false bomb alert, the procedure is essentially the same: an email signed by a pseudo-terrorist is sent to all inboxes, those of teachers and students alike, and warns that an explosive object has been hidden within the establishment. The message is sometimes the same, word for word. All 160 bomb threats turned out to be hoaxes, but all led to law enforcement intervention as a precaution and safety measure.
Investigations are opened for each new threat and law enforcement often manages to identify suspects who may be the authors of these false alarms. This was the case for threats launched in establishments in Seine-Saint-Denis, Hautes-Pyrénées, Gironde or the Normandy region, for example. These suspects present “diverse profiles” according to the spokesperson for the national police, Sonia Fibleuil, interviewed by RMC, but they are often teenagers “who are not necessarily known to our services”, said a source. police at 20 Minutes.
The motivations of the authors of the hoaxes are very rarely political, it is more of a game or a way to be excused from lessons. The police spokesperson believes that for others these false alerts are means of “scaring fear or testing new operating methods” of hacking. The authors of the false alerts hack the digital workspaces of educational establishments, such as the Pronote site, and access this space by pretending to be a student.
The police and gendarmerie services, but also the judicial police and the units specialized in cybercrime are mobilized in these investigations, because the consequences of each false bomb alert are very serious: evacuation of the establishment, search for explosives by law enforcement and sometimes demining services, but also the discrediting of proven terrorist threats. Sanctions exist for the authors of these false alerts, even young people. Most of the suspects are also being prosecuted for “death threats” and “false reporting” and face up to two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros.
