Extortionists, Australian company communicated in coded newspaper ads
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Extortionists used a 400-year-old code made famous in the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code to communicate with a company they were trying to blackmail, an Australian newspaper reported Friday.
Sydney's Daily Telegraph said the blackmailers demanded the equivalent of almost $49 million Cdn and threatened to shoot crane operators working for the global construction company Multiplex. The missives were encrypted with the code made famous in Dan Brown's novel.
The Telegraph said it discovered the message exchange when it noticed odd characters in the Feb. 19 edition of The Weekend Australian national newspaper, which read: svgucsk bfptat nskweum ds mz yxtqa - lvjxplbgzcj.vts.
When decoded, it appeared to be a message from the construction company to the blackmailers reading: "Problem please contact me on email - armultiplex.biz."
Multiplex said in a statement this week that the extortion threat first came in a letter to the company's Sydney office last month. The statement made no mention of encrypted messages.
Multiplex spokesman Adam Roach said Friday that police have advised the company not to comment on the case. Police also declined to comment.
So far none of the company's employees have been injured at its construction sites around the world, including the restoration of London's landmark Wembley Stadium.
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