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Experts say Pitt bomb threats suspect is nearly impossible to trace, profile

OAKLAND, Pa. — Experts are calling the person or people responsible for the recent bomb threats at the University of Pittsburgh impossible to profile and next to impossible to trace.

Channel 11’s Alan Jennings talked with Carnegie Mellon University Associate Professor Lorrie Cranor and former FBI terrorist profiler Larry Likar who both agree that the suspect has made it hard to be traced.

“If you use an anonymous remailer system, your message is sent through intermediaries all over the world and it’s really hard to trace,” Cranor said.

Cranor said it is very easy to find an anonymous remailer website which will strip the email of an address and IP address, then send it anonymously.

“Many of them even let you pick what country you want it to bounce through,” Cranor said.

University of Pittsburgh Police said the emailed threats were coming from Austria, which Cranor said is basically impossible to trace.

“This type of crime does draw a variety of people, but it’s sometimes a very mentally sharp and devious offender,” Likar said.

The University of Pittsburgh is offering up to a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest of those responsible.