The idea of being scammed over the phone, through email or even in person is quite familiar, but have you ever heard of being scammed via bomb threat?

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, experienced two bomb threats last week, designed to scam a Speedway Gas Station and a Dollar General store out of money, according to the police department in Chambersburg.

“The caller who was described as having a Middle Eastern accent in these two incidents threatened to detonate bombs if he did not receive payment in the form of money gram cards,” said a press release from the Chambersburg Police Department.

It goes on to say the two incidents are connected with a similar occurrence, at the same time, in Virginia. Furthermore, there is an investigation to find out who is perpetrating these crimes, as money scams like these have been made across the country.

The sheer number of these occurrences begs an important question: What type of world do Americans live in that such threats are considered a consistent problem?

Bomb threats are relatively normal — especially when it comes to schools. A quick Google search of “Pennsylvania school bomb threat” will produce a multitude of recent results.

Harry S. Truman High School in Levittown, Pennsylvania, and West Shamokin High School in Cowanshannock, Pennsylvania, are two examples of schools that experienced such threats this month, according to the Levittown Patch and CBS Pittsburgh.

While the possibility of bombing a place is not nearly as sinister and damaging as actually committing the act, it is still taken just as serious.

Thoughts of the Boston Bombing often come to mind as a real example of how devastating a terrorist act can be. People with older memories may recall how the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 attempted to set off homemade explosive devices.

The commonality of domestic terrorist threats may be prevalent today, but it is hard to narrow down when that started. The Sept. 11 attacks heightened homeland security efforts to the point where an entire executive department was created to counter terrorist acts, but 9/11 was not domestic in origin.

Domestic or not, any suspicion of someone acting with terroristic intent is handled with the utmost concern, regardless of whether it is a local school, a convenient store or a marathon.

The Department of Homeland Security offers a step-by-step, printable brochure that explains what to do in the event of a bomb threat. It provides advice on how to handle the situation, depending if it is via phone, a handwritten note or email.

Similar guides can be found in businesses and schools across the country, tucked away amongst other protocol, such as intruder, fire and robbery drills.

Though actual bombings in the U.S. are few and far between, any threat is treated as if it is potentially real. The reason for that sort of reaction is two-fold. The institution, whether private or public, that receives a terroristic threat is held accountable for how it responds.

Beyond the factor of liability, there is always the possibility the threat should be taken as legitimate.

Anyone who has access to the Internet can figure out how to build an explosive device. Even before the Internet was publicly available instructions of how to construct a bomb were published in newspapers and magazines.

United States v. Progressive, Inc. was a court case that occurred in 1979, between the U.S. government and the magazine Progressive, Inc., which attempted to publish detailed information on how to create a thermonuclear weapon, according to the William & Mary Law Review.

The article in question was so controversial the government attempted to exercise prior restraint on the magazine to prevent further publication.

The point, however, is that for decades virtually anyone in the world with modern technology can access dangerous information. With that being said, bomb threats are naturally taken seriously under all circumstances because they could be backed up with legitimate claims.

Criminals can exploit the graveness of such a threat by making their own bombs to rob convenience stores in normal towns like Chambersburg.

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