Aprank call (also known as acrank call, ahoax call, or agoof call) is atelephone call intended by the caller as apractical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type ofnuisance call and can be illegal under certain circumstances.
Recordings of prank phone calls became a staple of the obscure and amusingcassette tapes traded among musicians,sound engineers, and media traders in theUnited States from the late 1970s. Among the most famous and earliest recorded prank calls are theTube Bar prank calls tapes, which centered onLouis "Red" Deutsch. ComedianJerry Lewis was an incorrigible phone prankster, and recordings of his hijinks, dating from the 1960s and possibly earlier, still circulate to this day.
One victim of prank callers wasElizabeth II, who was fooled by Canadian DJPierre Brassard posing as Canadian Prime MinisterJean Chrétien, asking her to record a speech in support of Canadian unity ahead of the1995 Quebec referendum.[1] Another example is that of the prank calls made by theMiami-based radio stationRadio El Zol. In one such call, they telephoned Venezuelan presidentHugo Chávez and spoke to him pretending to be Cuban presidentFidel Castro.[2] They later reversed the prank, calling Castro and pretending to be Chávez. Castro began swearing at the pranksters live on air after they revealed themselves.[3]
British physicistR. V. Jones recorded two early examples of prank calls in his 1978 memoirMost Secret War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939–1945. The first was byCarl Bosch, a physicist and refugee fromNazi Germany, who in about 1933 persuaded a newspaper journalist that he could see his actions through the telephone (rather than, as was the case, from the window of his laboratory through the window of the journalist's flat). The second was by Jones in about the same year at Oxford University, pretending to be a telephone engineer, convinced a chemistry research student that there was a fault with his telephone. The student was persuaded to do such things as sing loudly into the telephone, and hold it by the flex while standing first on one leg then on the other. He finally had to be physically restrained by one of Jones' colleagues (who was in on the joke) from lowering it into a bucket of water.[4]
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Prank callers can now be easily found throughcaller ID, so it is often asserted that since the 1990s, prank calls have been harder to accomplish and thus waning in popularity.[5] Most telephone companies permit callers to withhold the identifying information from calls using avertical service code that blocks the caller's ID (*67 inNorth America, 141 in the UK), but potential victims may be reluctant to answer a call from an ID-blocked number.[5]Wiretapping by several governments have also made prank calls easier to trace.[citation needed] Callers can also call frompayphones in order to hide their identity, although this is becoming less common as pay phones began to phase out in the 2000s. The advent and advancements in digital switching technologies such as those found inSS7, unspoofableANI, as well as outbound and inbound calls being logged atcarrier exchange equipment, further complicate the pranksters will to remain anonymous while carrying out such activities.[citation needed]
Another increasingly popular option is to use some form ofVoIP. With some VoIP services, the telephone number will simply not exist. These calls are extremely difficult to trace since they may pass through servers and routers operated by multiple corporations or entities in various countries. Although law enforcement agencies may theoretically be able to find where aVoIP call originates from if they tried, in practice, the amount of time, effort, and resources required would be too significant to use on ordinary prank calls.[citation needed]
Sometimes, prank callers are able to connect with political leaders. In December 2005, a commercially operated radio station in Spain (COPE – owned by a series of institutions affiliated with the Catholic Church) played a prank on Bolivian president-electEvo Morales. The hoaxster pretended to be Spanish Prime MinisterJosé Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, congratulating Morales on his election[6] and saying things like, "I imagine the only one not to have called you was George Bush. I've been here two years and he still hasn't called me".[7] In an inversion of the typical pattern, in 2020 Russian opposition leaderAlexei Navalny used a prank call to convince anFSB agent to admit poisoning Navalny earlier that year.[8] George W. Bush was prank called by two Russian citizens in 2022; during this call, Bush stated, "I wanted Ukraine into NATO."[9]
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Ever since the opportunity has been available, there have been multiple internet radio stations dedicated to prank calls. Most of them feature a so-called "rotation" of prank calls, which is a constant broadcast of various prank calls submitted by the community, usually streamed from aSHOUTcast server host. Software such asVentrilo has allowed prank calls to be carried out to a more private user-base, however, in real-time.[citation needed]
The internet has allowed many people to share their own personal prank calls and develop into communities. Prank calls can be carried out in many ways; live or pre-recorded. Web platforms such asPrankcast.com allow show hosts likePhone Losers of America to send live show alerts to their followers and broadcast prank calls live to their listeners, who can also chat with the host and discuss on-goings in real-time.[10] The use ofsocial networking and the popularity ofuser generated content also allows these prank calls to spread and popularity to grow.[citation needed]
A flaw ofCraigslist and other social media sites is that it allows one to posttelephone numbers without a means of confirming they own the number. A common ruse to generate prank calls is to post someone's name and phone number in an enticing Craigslist post. If this is done in a location with a differenttime zone than the victim, the victim may receive large number of phone calls at an inconvenient time. Craigslist, and many other sites, have a policy of not releasing the identity of the original poster without acourt order. InWashington state, one cannot file an anti-harassment order against an anonymous person, leading to acatch-22 situation.[citation needed]
Some prank calls are criminalized in many jurisdictions, for instance if the call involves calling the emergency services, while others may be protected asfreedom of expression. For example, in the US, for a prank call to fall afoul of the Telecommunications Act,47 U.S.C. § 223(a)(1), the call must be done with the intent to "abuse, threaten, or harass". In Australia, the2Day FM incident described below was alleged by theAustralian Communications and Media Authority to have violated Australian law, but on the grounds that the recorded call was publicly broadcast without the other party's consent.[11]
Rudimentary criminal 'pranks' may range from simpletelephone harassment tobomb threats. One such hoax call occurred inPerth, Western Australia, on New Year's Eve 2002, when a drunk teenager called the new anti-terrorist hot line to report a bomb threat against the New Year's Eve fireworks celebrations.[12] The threat was taken seriously, and the celebrations were about to be cancelled when police discovered that no such threat existed. The teenager was then arrested for the false report.
More elaborate pranks rely on tricking the recipient into harmful behavior. An example of these was the 1996–2004strip search phone call scam, in which a prankster posing as a police officer was able to cause store managers tostrip search female employees. More recently, thePranknetvirtual community has been credited for causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage to many hotels andfast food restaurants. Posing asauthority figures, such asfire alarm company representatives and hotel corporate managers, Pranknet participants called unsuspecting employees and customers in the United States viaSkype and tricked them into damaging property, setting offfire sprinklers and other humiliating acts such as disrobing. They also post fraudulent ads on Craigslist, and then shout racial epithets and make violent threats of rape and murder against the people who call them to respond to the ads. Pranknet members listen in real-time and discuss the progress together in a privatechat room. The group, who flaunted their anonymity, were outed when editors ofThe Smoking Gun, posing as journalists, persuaded them to visit unique URLs.[13]
A series of prank calls by Joseph Sherer led to convictions and a twenty-year prison sentence for impersonating a physician, criminal endangerment, andaggravated assault.[14][15] In one call, as described by theMontana Supreme Court, "Sherer, impersonating a sympathetic and caring doctor, instructed the victim to cut off her nipple. The victim's obedient actions flowed directly from Sherer's instructions."[16]
Until his death in 2011, Oklahoma construction worker Frank Garrett was prank called and recorded countless times for his vitriolic reactions. Thesoundboard community that followed him caused at least three known incidents with the law: two inKansas City, Missouri, and a third inHouston; both were for threats of violence against residents and the police with his name being used in the process. Both incidents were covered by localFOX News stations.[17][18][19][20]
In 2012, Jacintha Saldanha, a nurse atKing Edward VII Hospital who was attending a pregnantCatherine, Duchess of Cambridge, was deceived into transferring a prank call fromMel Greig andMike Christian, the hosts of theHot30 Countdown radio program broadcast on2Day FM in Sydney, Australia, who were impersonatingQueen Elizabeth II andCharles, Prince of Wales. The hoaxsters were able to ask the duty nurse questions about the duchess' health, making the answers public. Saldanha was later found dead in a suspected suicide. The incident and the following death received intense media coverage and triggered an investigation, but no charges were laid.[21][22]
Two early and famous prank phone calls are the "refrigerator" gag and the "Prince Albert" gag. The first involves calling a target to ask "is your refrigerator running?" When the responder says "yes", the prankster replies "Well, you'd better go catch it!" The second requires calling a commercial establishment to ask if they have "Prince Albert in a can". If the reply is yes, the prankster responses with "Then you'd better let the poor guy out!" The origin of both of these jokes is unknown, although it is theorized[by whom?] they may have been adapted fromvaudeville routines rather than any single real-life incident.[citation needed] They have since been repeated in multiple outlets, though less for their comedic value than to convey the idea of a "prank phone call".
Bart Simpson's prank calls toMoe's Tavern are a running joke in early seasons ofThe Simpsons, as Bart would call Moe asking for people whose names are actuallydouble entendres. Examples include "Mike Rotch" (my crotch), "Bea O'Problem" (B.O. problem) and "Al Coholic" (alcoholic). Moe would then announce the call to the bar patrons in a way that would cause himself embarrassment ("I'm lookin' for Amanda Hugginkiss [i.e. a man to hug and kiss]"), prompting Moe to threaten Bart with some manner of violent and gruesome fate. Occasionally Bart's prank would backfire when a person with such an unusual name happened to be present, as in the episode "Flaming Moe's" when Bart asks for "Hugh Jass" (huge ass), only for a man with the same name to answer. In another episode, "Donnie Fatso", criminal ringleaderFat Tony calls to ask for his business partner, "Yuri Nator" (urinator). Believing this to be another prank call, Moe tells him off, resulting in Moe being targeted by Fat Tony's thugs.
"Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Phony Calls" (a parody of "Waterfalls" byTLC, featured on his 1996 albumBad Hair Day) deals with prank phone calls; the song directly references both the "refrigerator" and the "Prince Albert" gags, and containssamples of Bart Simpson prank calling Moe's Tavern.
In John Carpenter's horror thriller,Halloween, a group of friends tease one another with prank calls as a Halloween trick. During one such prank, Lynda is strangled byMichael Myers while in the midst of a phone call with Laurie. Laurie, assuming it is another friend making a prank call, hangs up on Lynda's cries of distress.
Some performers such asThe Jerky Boys,Tom Mabe andRoy D. Mercer, made a name for themselves producing albums of their recorded prank calls.
Sal "the Stockbroker" Governale andRichard Christy, writers onThe Howard Stern Show, have made various prank calls topublic access shows,talk radio, radio stations, and normal people at home. They also have a fictional radio show called the "Jack and Rod show" where they call a major celebrity for an interview and prank them with sound effects or fake guests such asCousin Brucie (where Howard imitates a famous radio host while using an exaggerated version of his signature speech patterns) and many other pranks.
The television showCrank Yankers is a series of real-life prank calls made by celebrities and re-enacted on-screen bypuppets for a humorous effect.
Fonejacker, a show started on April 4, 2007, onE4, starsKayvan Novak performing prank calls to the general public and being shown with animated pictures in aMonty Python style with their mouths moving and live recordings as the victim receives the call.
Beginning in early 2011,4chan organized a prank calling of the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, home to the popular television showPawn Stars. The callers would repeatedly ask the employees if they soldBattletoads, a video game for theNintendo Entertainment System notorious for its difficulty. This call led Rick Harrison, owner of the store, to repeatedly swear and yell at the prank callers, who recorded this and uploaded it toYouTube. This originated several other similar videos of pranksters dialing random establishments and asking aboutBattletoads.[23][24][25][26]Battletoads developerRare has acknowledged the prank via anachievement named "Do You Have Battletoads?" in their 2015 game compilationRare Replay.[27]
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In 1995, Canadian DJ Pierre Brassard got through toBuckingham Palace pretending to be Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. He chatted to the Queen for 15 minutes on air – eliciting a promise that she would try to influenceQuebec'sreferendum on proposals to break away from Canada – and she never realised it was a hoax.
A radio station in the American state of Florida Hasplayed a practical joke on President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela with a hoax phone call he believed was from his friend and ally, the Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Two presenters at Radio El Zol, in Miami, called Mr. Chavez on a private line and used taped extracts of Mr Castro's voice to make him think it was the communist leader himself on the phone.
