When do prank calls cross the line?
Remember when a prank call was somebody calling your home and asking if your refrigerator was running — and then, urging you to go catch it?
Apparently that’s not enough for a new breed of malicious pranksters.
According to Fox News, a group called PrankNET, headed by a person named Dex, is at the center of a growing trend of prank calls that are now being investigated by the FBI. Here are some examples.
In February, Dex’s work made headlines when he called a KFC in Manchester, N.H., and convinced workers there to douse the restaurant with fire suppression chemicals, evacuate the building and strip outside in freezing temperatures. Dex accomplished all of this by pretending to be their boss from a corporate office.
A Florida family staying in an Orlando Hilton was tricked last week into smashing windows, breaking a mirror, bashing in a wall with a lamp and tossing their mattress outside, causing about $5,000 in damage, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The caller persuaded them to do all of that in order to save themselves from a gas leak.
Another couple was called on PrankNET recently by someone claiming to be from their hotel front desk who told them that “deadly” exotic spiders had escaped and were going to swarm their hotel room. In order to avoid that catastrophe, they had to shatter their windows with the top of their toilet tank. After a few tries, they succeeded. Crisis averted.
The FBI’s field office in Knoxville, Tenn., is looking into possible revelations of Dex’s identity following an incident that caused an estimated $50,000 of damage at a Holiday Inn Express in Conway, Ark. An employee there was convinced to set off the fire alarm, shatter front windows and bash off a sprinkler head, which set off the sprinkler system and flooded the hotel.
Here’s a link to PrankNet’s channel on YouTube.
While the prank calls may be amusing, should prank callers receive serious punishment if they are caught by the FBI? Should any fault be put on the victims for being gullible?
Do you think you would ever fall for a prank like those ones, and have you ever been the victim of a prank call?
My rule when perpetrating any sort of prank in high school or college was not to cause any serious damage. But convincing someone else to intentionally damage their own stuff? That’s pretty funny, and kind of sad at the same time.
My favorite phone prank ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0wq6bCiuLo
someone please send me to one of those gullible people so I can sell my swamp land in Florida. I would have a problem with someone telling me to do all of that in person with flames rising in the back room much less on the telephone. The people making the calls should be punished and the people acting out should be mentally evaluated. Why can’t people just leave everyone else alone?
Dex needs to be prosecuted and pay dearly for these so-called `pranks.’ They’re no longer pranks when they reach this level. And, no, the people who actually carried out the damage shouldn’t be at fault. If we held them accountable for being so gullible, to be consistent, we’d have to hold accountable everyone who voted for Gorge Bush as president.
“When do prank calls cross the line?”
There is no line if the victims are Mets, Red Sox or KU fans.
Well, physical injury is off-limits but nothing else.
I would say any prank that causes injury or property damage is crossing the line. Also any prank that may cause emergency services (police, fire department, etc) to be called are severely crossing the line, as those services may be needed, and not available, for a true emergency. This could potentially result in the death of people not even involved in the phone call.
Punishment for property damage should be reparations for damages caused, plus a healthy fine. Punishment for pranks causing injury should depend on the severity of the injury. Assault, aggravated assault? Pranks that cause emergency services to be called should be dealt with severely. Felony.
IF someone caused damage due to someone “cute prank” than it pass on by the business to the law-abiding consumer to pay for.Do you think we already paid enough to cover the riff-raffs that steal and rob these places,and than have to cover the cost of these idiots and their pranks!!!
The best prank of all…electing Obama. Now wer’e all paying for it.
Dex is some fat 25 year-old unemployed virgin living in his mom’s basement in ontario. He was in the chatroom the other day BEGGING for someone to buy him a headset. When no one complied, he started crying and accusing people in the room of “not giving back”. Maybe he just needs his diaper changed? Poor kid
Jeri Batsford was the pranker that did the $50,000 damage call. Although associated with the prank room mentioned, she recently had a falling out and split with her compatriots - deciding to blame her damages on others in the room.
Every time free speech is mentioned, someone brings up “You can’t yell ‘Fire’ in a theater”. The reason is simple, because your “prank” may harm people or property.
Dex is doing the same thing, only worse. Rather than just hoping to see some people panic and run out of the theater, or possibly pull a fire alarm, he specifically tells them how to damage the property. He isn’t just Hoping for property damage, he’s Planning on it.
Clearly, his actions are far beyond a ‘prank’. At this point he’s more of an arsonist – except rather than gasoline and matches, his tools are a phone and gullibility.
I suspect he will not only go to jail for his crimes, but also be subject to quite a few civil lawsuits. I also suspect it will cease being funny when they take his property, and then his freedom. Some time in jail and paying restitution may just convince him to grow up…. but maybe not.