Anthrax hoaxes: fleeting sense of power

The anthrax scare has triggered the need for stringent security measures at post offices Keystone Archive

Psychologists say people sending fake anthrax threats are often lonely individuals seeking a moment of fame.

A series of anthrax threats across Switzerland has caused anxiety among the public, and a disruption to normal life, but so far none of the suspect packages has been found to contain anthrax.

On Wednesday, one of Switzerland’s largest postal sorting offices, in Schlieren, canton Zurich, was shut down after an anthrax scare. In canton Basel, a man was arrested for sending a hoax letter. Police said the man had wanted to put pressure on a government office. He could face up to three years in prison if found guilty of causing alarm among the public.

Jacqueline Frossard, a psychologist with Basel police, whose officers are currently investigating an anthrax threat made to the pharmaceutical company Novartis, said hoaxes are often carried out by people who feel powerless.

“I think it is often people who feel very small in a very big and powerful world,” Frossard told swissinfo. “They are probably people who don’t have very much influence, who live very quietly, and who don’t have much social life.”

She added, “quite often they will also feel that life has treated them unfairly.”

A moment of fame

Frossard said the sight of police, fire brigades, and decontamination experts rushing to the scene of a suspect parcel provided a kick for hoaxers, because it made them feel powerful, if only for a moment.

“It makes them feel famous, it’s like being a television star,” she said. “They have provoked a huge event simply by sending a letter. Police and emergency services and above all television cameras turn up all because of something they have done.

“But of course it’s not a solution to their problems, it simply gives them a sense of satisfaction for a brief moment in time.”

Aggressive personalities

However, Frossard was quick to reassure the public that the leap between a hoax threat and a real one is very great.

“The personality of someone who carries out a real anthrax attack is very different from that of someone who sends a hoax parcel”, she said. “They are both aggressive personalities, but aggressive in different ways.”

She added, “it is extremely unlikely that a hoaxer would graduate to sending a parcel with dangerous substances in it.”

Media attention an invitation

Frossard said preventing fake threats would be extremely difficult, but she suggested that increased media coverage was an invitation to potential hoaxers.

“The more television pictures we see of buildings closed down, of the police investigating parcels,” she said, “the greater is the attraction for people seeking attention.”

“I think it would be a good idea if the media stopped covering these hoax threats so intensively.”

Public anxiety

Frossard said that the hoaxes, and all the attention given to them, are having a psychological effect on the general public.

“People are feeling very unsure,” she said. “Symptoms include nervousness, panic attacks, and sleeplessness.

“Right across the world people are living with a general feeling of insecurity. Even here in Switzerland, where we have a high level of safety, people are learning that things are not as safe as they had always thought.”