Anthrax hoaxes

The FBI and U.S. postal inspectors have responded to thousands of "white powder events" and targets have included government offices, US embassies, banks and news organizations.

[1][2] Anthrax hoaxes were sporadically reported in the 1990s,[3] including a petri dish in an envelope labeled "anthrachs"[sic] sent to B'nai B'rith in Washington in 1997 that contained harmless Bacillus cereus,[4][5][6] but a spate of anthrax threats followed the 1998 arrest of Larry Wayne Harris, a microbiologist and white supremacist.

[10][11][12] Legislation was enacted in the UK in October 2001 so that anyone convicted of a hoax involving threats of biological, chemical, nuclear or radioactive contamination would face a seven-year prison sentence.

[16][17][18] One of the most prolific hoaxers was Clayton Waagner, an anti-abortion activist who mailed hundreds of anthrax hoax letters to abortion clinics in late 2001[19] and who was convicted in December 2003.

[25] Notable recipients of anthrax hoax letters include journalist Judith Miller, author of Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, who received one at the New York Times offices in October 2001.