Internet Firm Received Message Predicting Terror Attacks in U.S.

Internet Firm Received Message Predicting Terror Attacks in U.S.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
September 26, 2001

Two hours before terrorists struck the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, two employees of an instant messaging service in Israel received messages predicting the attack would happen, the Israeli Ha'aretz daily reported Wednesday.

The Odigo company has been cooperating with Israeli and American law enforcement, including the FBI, in trying to fi nd the original sender of the message, the daily added. Company CEO Micha Macover said the two workers received the messages and immediately after the terror attack informed the company's management, which immediately contacted the Israeli security services, which in turn brought in the FBI.

"I have no idea why the message was sent to these two workers, who don't know the sender. It may just have been someone who was joking and turned out they accidentally got it right. And I don't know if our information was useful in any of the arrests the FBI has made," he was quoted as saying.

Odigo is a U.S.-based company whose headquarters are in New York, with offices in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.

Macover said the company usually protects the privacy of its registered users, but in this case it took the initiative to provide the law enforcement services with the originating Internet Presence address of the message, so the FBI could track down the Internet Service Provider, and the actual sender of the original message.

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