Mailbomb

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For the song by Green Day, see Letterbomb (song).

For sending large volumes of email, see Email bomb.

A mailbomb (or mail bomb), also called parcel bomb or letter bomb, is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed to explode when opened, injuring or killing the recipient, usually someone the sender has a personal grudge against, or more indiscriminately as part of a terrorist campaign. Some countries have agencies the job of which is in part the interdiction of mailbombs and the investigation of mailbombings.

Mail bombs are usually set to explode immediately on opening, with the intention of seriously injuring or killing the recipient (who may or may not be the person to whom the bomb was addressed). Parcel bombs may have excessive postage because a bomber usually does not want to mail a parcel over the counter, having to deal with a clerk, or because he doesn't want to take any risk the parcel will be returned to him for postage due. Letter bombs may feel rigid, or appear uneven or lopsided. Package bombs may have an irregular shape, soft spots, or bulges. Oil or grease stains are also indicated as warning signs. Though mail bombs may exhibit these characteristics, depending on their design, more often than not a package with these features is benign. Unsolicited packages may be a more telltale warning.

Bombs delivered by mail can often be recognised because they arrive in suspicious packages or unusual looking letters. The police and security consultants can advise how to recognise possible mailbombs.

A related threat is mail containing unidentified powders or chemicals. In many cases, these turn out to be harmless, and often sent as a joke or hoax threat. However, until the substance can be analysed in a laboratory it may present a hazard, so police or environmental authorities may close the affected areas. This often is the intended purpose of the sender.

The world's first mailbomb was used by a Swedish man named Martin Ekenberg on August 20, 1904, targeting CEO Karl Fredrik Lundin in Stockholm. It was made of a box loaded with bullets and explosives. [1](Swedish)