IN THE internet age, the threats of a man sitting at his computer can spread strife across the globe in moments.

That's what happened when Frankston man Jarrad Willis, 20, allegedly posted a hoax blog on the internet warning of a shooting rampage at the Grove shopping centre in Beverly Hills. He claimed the shooting would happen on December 6 and for good measure posted a photograph of a man holding a shotgun.

Los Angeles police, fearing a copycat massacre just two days after a shopping centre shooting in Omaha, Nebraska, killed eight people, alerted the Grove centre and started a global manhunt. The police operation cost about $100,000.

But shoppers were never in danger.

Los Angeles police deputy chief of counter-terrorism and criminal intelligence Michael Downing said it was "a sick joke for sure that is criminal in intent and we hope that he gets punished for his actions".