Recent from talks
Tesco bomb campaign
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Tesco bomb campaign
The Tesco bomb campaign was an attempted extortion against the British supermarket chain Tesco which started in Bournemouth, England, in August 2000 and led to one of the largest and most secretive operations ever undertaken by Dorset Police. During the campaign, a blackmailer identified by the pseudonym "Sally" sent letters to Tesco stores threatening to harm customers if his demands—for Clubcards, modified so that the holder could withdraw cash from ATMs—were not met.
Several months after the threat first came to light, "Sally" sent out several letter bombs, one of which was received and exploded in the face of the recipient, causing her shock and minor injuries. The Royal Mail intercepted several other letter bombs, which had been held up because insufficient stamps had been put on them. In October 2000, "Sally" threatened to use pipe bombs against Tesco customers and the threat was taken seriously enough that Tesco began the production of the modified Clubcards, but were unable to produce the required number before the deadline set by the blackmailer. In November, "Sally" claimed to have placed a pipe bomb in a garden in the Ferndown area of Dorset, but no bomb was found.
Police eventually mounted a surveillance operation on the postbox to which several of the extortion letters had been traced and identified "Sally" as Robert Edward Dyer. Dyer was arrested in February 2001, over six months since the beginning of the extortion attempt, and charged with several offences, including nine counts of blackmail and one of common assault, of which he was found guilty in May 2001. He was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment on 12 June 2001, later reduced to 12 years on appeal. A number of similar extortion attempts against supermarket chains and other businesses and subsequent attacks on Tesco have since been compared to Dyer's campaign by the media.
The campaign began in August 2000, when John Purnell, director of security for Tesco, the United Kingdom's largest supermarket chain, was telephoned by a newsagent in Bournemouth who had discovered a copy of an extortion letter left on his shop's photocopier. The letter demanded that Tesco give away Clubcards, modified for use in cash machines, with a combined value of £200,000 in the Bournemouth Daily Echo.
The letter, dated 22 August 2000, was written as follows [grammar and spelling mistakes have been adjusted]:
Without prejudice.
Very soon some people in the Bmth [Bournemouth] area will get small bombs sent to them. they will all be recent Tesco customers. These bombs will be very small, just a warning.
Unless you agree to my terms very quickly the bombs will get bigger and much more more dangerous. They will all go to Tesco customers. Anyone seen shopping at Tesco will be a possible target. You can only stop this by meeting my terms.
Hub AI
Tesco bomb campaign AI simulator
(@Tesco bomb campaign_simulator)
Tesco bomb campaign
The Tesco bomb campaign was an attempted extortion against the British supermarket chain Tesco which started in Bournemouth, England, in August 2000 and led to one of the largest and most secretive operations ever undertaken by Dorset Police. During the campaign, a blackmailer identified by the pseudonym "Sally" sent letters to Tesco stores threatening to harm customers if his demands—for Clubcards, modified so that the holder could withdraw cash from ATMs—were not met.
Several months after the threat first came to light, "Sally" sent out several letter bombs, one of which was received and exploded in the face of the recipient, causing her shock and minor injuries. The Royal Mail intercepted several other letter bombs, which had been held up because insufficient stamps had been put on them. In October 2000, "Sally" threatened to use pipe bombs against Tesco customers and the threat was taken seriously enough that Tesco began the production of the modified Clubcards, but were unable to produce the required number before the deadline set by the blackmailer. In November, "Sally" claimed to have placed a pipe bomb in a garden in the Ferndown area of Dorset, but no bomb was found.
Police eventually mounted a surveillance operation on the postbox to which several of the extortion letters had been traced and identified "Sally" as Robert Edward Dyer. Dyer was arrested in February 2001, over six months since the beginning of the extortion attempt, and charged with several offences, including nine counts of blackmail and one of common assault, of which he was found guilty in May 2001. He was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment on 12 June 2001, later reduced to 12 years on appeal. A number of similar extortion attempts against supermarket chains and other businesses and subsequent attacks on Tesco have since been compared to Dyer's campaign by the media.
The campaign began in August 2000, when John Purnell, director of security for Tesco, the United Kingdom's largest supermarket chain, was telephoned by a newsagent in Bournemouth who had discovered a copy of an extortion letter left on his shop's photocopier. The letter demanded that Tesco give away Clubcards, modified for use in cash machines, with a combined value of £200,000 in the Bournemouth Daily Echo.
The letter, dated 22 August 2000, was written as follows [grammar and spelling mistakes have been adjusted]:
Without prejudice.
Very soon some people in the Bmth [Bournemouth] area will get small bombs sent to them. they will all be recent Tesco customers. These bombs will be very small, just a warning.
Unless you agree to my terms very quickly the bombs will get bigger and much more more dangerous. They will all go to Tesco customers. Anyone seen shopping at Tesco will be a possible target. You can only stop this by meeting my terms.
Recent media