The Pasco County Sheriff's Office gave the all clear this morning after earlier responding to reports of a hostage situation.
Deputies and a SWAT team arrived at the Inn on the Gulf Hotel at 6330 Clark Street in Hudson just after 5 a.m.
Authorities said there initially was a report of a man threatening to take hostages and blow things up at the hotel. Guests at the hotel were evacuated.
"As you are coming down here you don’t know what is going on," said hotel owner Mike Malacos. "You know this is our livelihood, this is our place of business."
Crews responded and a short time later determined the situation was a hoax.
"I think they (guests) were more frustrated that it was a hoax," Malacos said. "That someone could to do something at a small hotel like this."
The problem for law enforcement is they lose resources and thousands of dollars in tax payer money.
But the sheriff says deputies have to take each situation seriously.
“Weeding out these hoaxes is very hard to do because what if you don’t take a situation seriously, what happens if you don’t go out there and do the right thing,” said Sheriff Chris Nocco.
It can also pose a danger for both the community and police.
Officials said it may be difficult to track down the pranksters as they will have to try to trace the IP address of the online threat.
The charges could vary depending on the call, said a sheriff's office spokesperson. They could be felonies and all the way up to federal charges. For instance it cold be giving false information to a law enforcement officer or misuse of 911.