Dark Web Bomb Threats: Teen Arrested For Operating Fake Attack Service

An American-Israeli teenager was arrested for selling fake bomb threats on dark web marketplaces. The 18-year-old is linked to a number of false threats made against schools and Jewish community centers.

Michael Kadar, the teenager arrested for making threats against Jewish organizations throughout the United States, was also selling his services to buyers on AlphaBay, a popular dark web marketplace that was shut down by the U.S. Department of Justice and Europol in July.

Details of Kadar’s services were included in recently unsealed court documents, which showed he posted advertisements under the username Darknet_Legend for what he called a “School Email Bomb Threat Service.”

Kadar offered to create customized threats that he would then email to school officials in order to get the school to temporarily shut down its operations. The 18-year-old charged $30 to make the threat. If the purchaser wanted the threat sent to multiple schools or an entire school district, he would do so for $60—though districts with more than 12 schools required additional payment.

The service also included the option to frame someone else by name for the threat for an additional $15 surcharge—though Kadar recommended against framing someone in one of the supposed advertisements he posted.

“There is no guarantee that the police will question or arrest the framed person,” Kadar allegedly wrote in a post. He noted that he simply adds a person’s name to the email in order to draw attention to that person. “In addition, my experience of doing bomb threats and putting someone’s name in the emailed threat will reduce the chance of the threat being successful,” he said.

Kadar allegedly wrote that he was available “almost 24/7” to make the fake threats and offered refunds to users who purchased the service if the threat was unsuccessful.

According to the Department of Justice’s case against Kadar, he is accused of making 245 threatening phone calls against Jewish community centers through the U.S. between the months of January and March. Kadar made the calls using an online calling service that concealed his voice and number, allowing to him to remain anonymous.

Kadar was arrested in March in Israel after he was charged in a federal court in Orlando with 28 counts of making threatening calls. The indictment accused him of issuing threats to airports and schools in addition to Jewish centers. He was also accused of lying to the police.

Prior to his arrest in Israel, the teenager had been accused of earning nearly $240,000 worth of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin by selling his services on the dark web.

The indictment against doesn’t offer confirmation how much, if any, Kadar made from his bomb threat-for-hire service, though there were positive reviews left on his AlphaBay account, including one that said threats were “amazing on time and on target. We got evacuated and got the day cut short.” The post was made one day after an emailed bomb threat was made to Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, California.