When Robin Scott heard there was an evacuation order at the Upper Canada Mall store where she works, she was shocked.

But she quickly heard rumours, including that owners were closing the mall so Justin Bieber could do some shopping.

"I heard they once closed it for Hayden Christensen and the rest of the Star Wars crew when they were here," she said.

The reality was far different, a slew of stores that make up a portion of the northerly wing of the mall were evacuated of staff and customers after a bomb threat was phoned into the Apple Store.

Police said staff received a "threatening call" which was short, but raised enough alarm to cause ten police cruisers to show up, just before 1p.m.

After clearing the threat, resulting in most people returning to work, Insp. Alvaro Almeida said threats like this one are far too common, considering how many police resources they tend to waste.

"You want to minimize disruption, but you have to take it seriously," he said. "You never know the motivation until you apprehend the person."

Aumta Kandi, 23, from Toronto, was among a slew of people who waited to get into the Apple Store afterwards, before being told it was closed until at least 2:30 p.m.

"We just wanted to buy a laptop," she said. "I guess it was all a big hoax, maybe someone who is upset."