WASHINGTON, April 19: The US government has received “unsubstantiated information” that “unspecified terrorists” are considering physical attacks against US banks, the FBI said on Friday.

A US official said the threats were believed to be coming from the Al Qaeda network.

“The United States government has received unsubstantiated information that unspecified terrorists are considering physical attacks against US financial institutions in the northeast, particularly banks, as part of their campaign against US financial interests,” the FBI said in a statement.

It said the alert, sent to police and banks out of “an abundance of caution,” did not change the level of threat in the country, which remains at an elevated level of risk, or yellow on the scale implemented this year.

In March the government adopted a new colour-coded rating for the severity of threats. A yellow alert is defined as an “elevated” or “significant” risk of attack. The highest alert is red.

When the official was asked who was behind the threat he said “Al Qaeda”.

“We know the origin of it,” he said, but cautioned “there may be no such plan afoot. We don’t know that it’s legitimate, but we know the source.”

Friday’s FBI alert, which came as the world’s finance ministers gathered in Washington for the semi-annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank, said the information received shows the attacks would be in the northeast, particularly on banks.

“While the FBI has no information about any specific plot or threats to any specific institution, out of an abundance of caution an alert has been transmitted to law enforcement and to financial institutions,” it said.

ALERT COVERS 12 STATES: The alert covers the states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and the capital Washington.—Reuters