Prank call
Encyclopedia
A prank call is a form of practical joke
committed over the telephone
. Prank phone calls began to gain an America
-wide following over a period of many years, as they gradually became a staple of the obscure and amusing cassette tapes traded amongst musician
s, sound
engineer
s, and media traders beginning in the late 1970s. Among the most famous and earliest recorded prank calls are the Tube Bar prank calls
tapes, which centered around Louis "Red" Deutsch. Comedian Jerry Lewis
was an incorrigible phone prankster, and recordings of his hijinks, dating from the 1960s and possibly earlier, still circulate throughout the country to this day.
Even very prominent people have fallen victim to prank callers, as for example Elizabeth II
, who was fooled by Canadian DJ Pierre Brassard
posing as Canadian Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien
, asking her to record a speech in support of Canadian unity ahead of the 1995 Quebec referendum
. Two other particularly famous examples of prank calls were made by the Miami-based radio station Radio El Zol. In one, they telephoned Venezuela
n president Hugo Chávez
and spoke to him, pretending to be Cuba
n president Fidel Castro
. 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. Radio El Zol was fined $4,000 by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) of the United States for the second prank.
and Roy D. Mercer
make a name for themselves producing albums of their recorded prank calls.
Sal and Richard, writers on the Howard Stern show
, have made various prank calls to public 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 as cousin Brucie (where Howard imitates a disabled person with a severe speech impediment) and many other pranks.
The television show Crank Yankers
is a series of real-life prank calls made by celebrities and re-enacted on-screen by puppet
s for a humorous effect. Fonejacker
, a show started on 5 April 2007 on E4, stars Kayvan Novak
performing prank calls to the general public and being shown with animated pictures in a Monty Python
style with their mouths moving and live recordings as the victim receives the call.
, who is known by his prank caller / radio station host name "Blackout". It was broadcast in real audio 1.0 format (14.4 baud modem
speed) in 1995. His was also the first interactive internet radio show primarily based on prank calls to broadcast live and take callers suggestions on pranks. The first world wide notability of a 'prank call site' being Blackout.com (Blackout's Box), and the site remains online to this day.
The internet radio
station [wPCR] PrankCall Radio (www.prankcallradio.net) is the largest web-site that still continuously broadcasts prank phone calls as they happen live on the internet. Since its creation by "DJ FooDStamP" in 1997, they have completed over 185,000 prank phone calls and broadcast them to over 5 million people worldwide.
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 a SHOUTcast
server host. Software such as Ventrilo
has allowed prank calls to be carried out to a more private user-base, however, in real-time.
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. Sites such as Stickam
and Ustream
allow hosts to carry out prank calls live to thousands of listeners, who can also chat and discuss on-goings in real-time. The use of social networking and the popularity of user generated content also allows these prank calls to spread and popularity to grow.
Although prank call communities are still relatively small-scale compared to FM stations that feature live pranks, it is a growing community on the internet today and many new communities are developing all the time.
Reaction videos and photo montages are also popular ways of sharing prank phone calls via video sharing websites such as YouTube
.
Pranknet
is an anonymous prank calling virtual community
responsible for tens of thousands of dollars in damage to hotel
s and fast food restaurant
s. Posing as authority figures
, such as fire alarm company representatives and hotel corporate managers, Pranknet participants called unsuspecting employees and customers in the United States
via Skype
and tricked them into damaging property, setting off fire sprinkler
s 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 private chat room
. The group, who flaunted their anonymity, were outed during an investigation by The Smoking Gun
.
, so it is often asserted that prank calls since the 1990s have been harder to accomplish. However, most telephone companies permit callers to withhold the identifying information from calls using a vertical service code
such as *57 call trace, *67 that blocks the caller's ID or *69 that gives the last phone number calling in unless it is blocked by *67 (141 in the UK). Callers can also call from payphones in order to hide their identity. Another increasingly popular option is to use some form of VOIP. With some VOIP services, the telephone number will simply not exist.
s. Prank calls that waste the time of emergency services are a criminal offense in most countries and are considered telephone harassment in the US. Despite this, many still continue with the joke.
One such hoax call occurred in Perth
, 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. 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.
Tension was also caused in December 2005, when a commercially operated radio station in Spain
(COPE - owned by a series of institutions affiliated with the Catholic Church) played a prank on Bolivia
n president-elect Evo Morales
. The hoaxer pretended to be Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
, congratulating Morales on his election 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". The Bolivian government protested to Spain, and the real Zapatero called Morales and apologized. The Spanish government in turn summoned the papal nuncio in protest.
In the United States
, the Telecommunications Act of 1996
makes some prank calls a felony
with penalties of up to two years in prison, and possible fines depending on severity. However, such penalties are rarely carried out.
Moreover, to make a prank call that falls afoul of the Telecommunications Act, , the call must be done with the intent to "annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass".
, as Bart
calls Moe
's Tavern asking for people whose names are actually double entendres. Examples include "Mike Rotch" (my crotch), Bea O' Problem (B.O. problem) and "Amanda Hugginkiss" (a man to hug and kiss). Moe then asks his clientele if the person is present, embarrassing himself in the process. However, in the episode Flaming Moe's
, Bart's prank call backfires when he calls up asking for "Hugh Jass", only for a man with the same name to answer.
"Weird Al" Yankovic
's song "Phony Calls" (a parody of "Waterfalls") deals with prank phone calls. Specifically, it talks about the "Is your refrigerator running?" gag and the "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" gag. It also incorporates one of Bart Simpson's prank phone calls.
A Cartoon Network
series, Regular Show
, had an episode that involved prank calling, it was called "Prank Callers" and aired on November 1, 2010. It involves Mordecai and Rigby pranking people via their phone.
Frank Neal Garrett died on 3 July 2011. He lived in Stilwell, Oklahoma and was an extremely famous prank call victim who became popular on YouTube and in the prank calling community. Prank calls involving his voice stirred controversy in Independence, Missouri and in Houston, Texas when pranksters edited Frank Garrett's voice to make threatening phone calls. Both instances were covered by Fox News.
During KWIN radio broadcasts a Carmen Prank Call will occur, where "Carmen" calls random people and annoys them to the point of them hanging up, irritated, once, and after a second call, twice.
Practical joke
A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, typically causing the victim to experience embarrassment, indignity, or discomfort. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being fooled into handing over money or...
committed over the telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
. Prank phone calls began to gain an America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-wide following over a period of many years, as they gradually became a staple of the obscure and amusing cassette tapes traded amongst musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s, sound
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
s, and media traders beginning in the late 1970s. Among the most famous and earliest recorded prank calls are the Tube Bar prank calls
Tube Bar prank calls
The Tube Bar prank calls are a legendary series of prank calls. Performed in the mid-1970s, John Elmo and Jim Davidson made a number of phone calls to the Tube Bar in Jersey City, asking the proprietor if they could speak to a named customer. The given names were homophones for other, often...
tapes, which centered around Louis "Red" Deutsch. Comedian Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
was an incorrigible phone prankster, and recordings of his hijinks, dating from the 1960s and possibly earlier, still circulate throughout the country to this day.
Even very prominent people have fallen victim to prank callers, as for example Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, who was fooled by Canadian DJ Pierre Brassard
Pierre Brassard
Pierre Brassard is a Québécois actor, comedian, television personality and radio broadcaster. He is associated with CKOI-FM in Montreal and famous for his phone call hoaxes. He managed to arrange phone calls with Queen Elizabeth II and Pope John Paul II, pretending to be Canadian Prime Minister...
posing as Canadian Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
, asking her to record a speech in support of Canadian unity ahead of the 1995 Quebec referendum
1995 Quebec referendum
The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should secede from Canada and become an independent state, through the question:...
. Two other particularly famous examples of prank calls were made by the Miami-based radio station Radio El Zol. In one, they telephoned Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n president Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
and spoke to him, pretending to be Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n president Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
. 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. Radio El Zol was fined $4,000 by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) of the United States for the second prank.
In popular culture
Prank calls are generally done for the amusement of the pranksters (and their listening audiences). Some performers such as The Jerky Boys, Tom MabeTom Mabe
Tom Mabe is an American comedian and prankster.Mabe uses hidden cameras and specializes in exposing telemarketers; he is based in Louisville, Kentucky and has been featured on Drew & Mike in the Morning on WRIF numerous times...
and Roy D. Mercer
Roy D. Mercer
Roy D. Mercer is a fictional character created by disc jockeys Brent Douglas and Phil Stone on radio station KMOD-FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Douglas, who performs Mercer's voice, uses the character as a vehicle for comedy sketches in which he performs prank calls. Seventeen Roy D...
make a name for themselves producing albums of their recorded prank calls.
Sal and Richard, writers on the Howard Stern show
Howard Stern Show
The Howard Stern Show is an American radio show hosted by its namesake Howard Stern. It gained wide recognition in the 1990s when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1986 to 2005...
, have made various prank calls to public access
Public Access
Public Access is a 1993 American drama film directed by Bryan Singer in his feature film debut. Singer also wrote the screenplay with Christopher McQuarrie and Michael Feit Dougan. The film was shot in 18 days for US$250,000. It was screened at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, where it was...
shows, talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
, 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 as cousin Brucie (where Howard imitates a disabled person with a severe speech impediment) and many other pranks.
The television show Crank Yankers
Crank Yankers
Crank Yankers is an American TV show produced by Adam Carolla, Jimmy Kimmel and Daniel Kellison that featured actual prank calls made by show regulars and celebrity guests, and re-enacted onscreen by puppets for a visual aid to show the viewer what is happening in the call...
is a series of real-life prank calls made by celebrities and re-enacted on-screen by puppet
Puppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....
s for a humorous effect. Fonejacker
Fonejacker
Fonejacker is a British comedy programme broadcast on E4 featuring a series of prank calls involving a number of different characters performed by British Iranian television actor Kayvan Novak. It first appeared in May 2006, although it did not become a full series until 2007.The first series began...
, a show started on 5 April 2007 on E4, stars Kayvan Novak
Kayvan Novak
Kayvan Novak is an award-winning British Iranian television actor and voice artist.- Voice actor :Novak has provided voice work for three video games: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo...
performing prank calls to the general public and being shown with animated pictures in a Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
style with their mouths moving and live recordings as the victim receives the call.
Prank calls and the Internet
The earliest known streaming prank call on the internet was posted by Michael BigginsMichael Biggins
Michael Biggins is an American film actor, writer, director, and radio and TV show host best known for performing under the name of Blackout in a wide variety of pranks, prank call recordings, radio and TV shows, films, and original characters created and performed under that performance name...
, who is known by his prank caller / radio station host name "Blackout". It was broadcast in real audio 1.0 format (14.4 baud modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
speed) in 1995. His was also the first interactive internet radio show primarily based on prank calls to broadcast live and take callers suggestions on pranks. The first world wide notability of a 'prank call site' being Blackout.com (Blackout's Box), and the site remains online to this day.
The internet radio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
station [wPCR] PrankCall Radio (www.prankcallradio.net) is the largest web-site that still continuously broadcasts prank phone calls as they happen live on the internet. Since its creation by "DJ FooDStamP" in 1997, they have completed over 185,000 prank phone calls and broadcast them to over 5 million people worldwide.
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 a SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast is cross-platform proprietary software for streaming media over the Internet. The software, developed by Nullsoft , allows digital audio content, primarily in MP3 or HE-AAC format, to be broadcast to and from media player software, enabling the creation of Internet radio "stations"...
server host. Software such as Ventrilo
Ventrilo
Ventrilo is a proprietary VoIP software which includes text chat.The Ventrilo client and server are both available as freeware for use with fewer than 8 people on the same server . The server software is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, or Unix variants such as Linux, Kopi, Solaris,...
has allowed prank calls to be carried out to a more private user-base, however, in real-time.
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. Sites such as Stickam
Stickam
Stickam is a website devoted to live-streaming video, featuring both professional and user-generated content. The site launched in 2005. Stickam features user-submitted pictures, audio, video, and most prominently, live streaming video chat...
and Ustream
Ustream
Ustream is a website which consists of a network of diverse channels providing a platform for lifecasting and live video streaming of events online. Established in March 2007, the site has over 2,000,000 registered users who generate 1,500,000+ hours of live streamed content per month with over ten...
allow hosts to carry out prank calls live to thousands of listeners, who can also chat and discuss on-goings in real-time. The use of social networking and the popularity of user generated content also allows these prank calls to spread and popularity to grow.
Although prank call communities are still relatively small-scale compared to FM stations that feature live pranks, it is a growing community on the internet today and many new communities are developing all the time.
Reaction videos and photo montages are also popular ways of sharing prank phone calls via video sharing websites such as YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Pranknet
Pranknet
Pranknet, also known as Prank University or Prank U, is a Canadian-based anonymous prank calling virtual community responsible for damage to hotels and fast food restaurants of more than $60,000 as well as multiple instances of telephone harassment. It was founded by a man who later referred to...
is an anonymous prank calling virtual community
Virtual community
A virtual community is a social network of individuals who interact through specific media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals...
responsible for tens of thousands of dollars in damage to hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s and fast food restaurant
Fast food restaurant
A fast food restaurant, also known as a Quick Service Restaurant or QSR within the industry itself, is a specific type of restaurant characterized both by its fast food cuisine and by minimal table service...
s. Posing as authority figures
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
, such as fire alarm company representatives and hotel corporate managers, Pranknet participants called unsuspecting employees and customers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
via Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
and tricked them into damaging property, setting off fire sprinkler
Fire sprinkler
A fire sprinkler system is an active fire protection measure, consisting of a water supply system, providing adequate pressure and flowrate to a water distribution piping system, onto which fire sprinklers are connected...
s and other humiliating acts such as disrobing. They also post fraudulent ads on Craigslist
Craigslist
Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....
, 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 private chat room
Chat room
The term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing...
. The group, who flaunted their anonymity, were outed during an investigation by The Smoking Gun
The Smoking Gun
The Smoking Gun is a website that posts legal documents, arrest records, and police mugshots on a daily basis. The intent is to bring to the public light information that is damning, shocking, outrageous, or amazing, yet also somewhat obscure or unreported by more mainstream media sources...
.
Reactions
Prank calls are now easily traced through Caller IDCaller ID
Caller ID , also called calling line identification or calling number identification or Calling Line Identification Presentation , is a telephone service, available in analog and digital phone systems and most Voice over Internet Protocol applications, that transmits a caller's number to...
, so it is often asserted that prank calls since the 1990s have been harder to accomplish. However, most telephone companies permit callers to withhold the identifying information from calls using a vertical service code
Vertical service code
A vertical service code or VSC is a special code dialed prior to a telephone number that engages some type of special telephone service...
such as *57 call trace, *67 that blocks the caller's ID or *69 that gives the last phone number calling in unless it is blocked by *67 (141 in the UK). Callers can also call from payphones in order to hide their identity. Another increasingly popular option is to use some form of VOIP. With some VOIP services, the telephone number will simply not exist.
Legality
Prank calls range from annoying hang-ups to false calls to emergency services or threatThreat
Threat of force in public international law is a situation between states described by British lawyer Ian Brownlie as:The 1969 Vienna convention on the Law of Treaties notes in its preamble that both the threat and the use of force are prohibited...
s. Prank calls that waste the time of emergency services are a criminal offense in most countries and are considered telephone harassment in the US. Despite this, many still continue with the joke.
One such hoax call occurred in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
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. 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.
Tension was also caused in December 2005, when a commercially operated radio station in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
(COPE - owned by a series of institutions affiliated with the Catholic Church) played a prank on Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
n president-elect Evo Morales
Evo Morales
Juan Evo Morales Ayma , popularly known as Evo , is a Bolivian politician and activist, currently serving as the 80th President of Bolivia, a position that he has held since 2006. He is also the leader of both the Movement for Socialism party and the cocalero trade union...
. The hoaxer pretended to be Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012...
, congratulating Morales on his election 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". The Bolivian government protested to Spain, and the real Zapatero called Morales and apologized. The Spanish government in turn summoned the papal nuncio in protest.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the Telecommunications Act of 1996
Telecommunications Act of 1996
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first major overhaul of United States telecommunications law in nearly 62 years, amending the Communications Act of 1934. This Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, was a major stepping stone towards the future of telecommunications, since this was the...
makes some prank calls a felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
with penalties of up to two years in prison, and possible fines depending on severity. However, such penalties are rarely carried out.
Moreover, to make a prank call that falls afoul of the Telecommunications Act, , the call must be done with the intent to "annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass".
Popular culture
Prank calls frequently appear in many earlier episodes of The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, as Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
calls Moe
Moe Szyslak
Momar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"...
's Tavern asking for people whose names are actually double entendres. Examples include "Mike Rotch" (my crotch), Bea O' Problem (B.O. problem) and "Amanda Hugginkiss" (a man to hug and kiss). Moe then asks his clientele if the person is present, embarrassing himself in the process. However, in the episode Flaming Moe's
Flaming Moe's
"Flaming Moe's" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons third season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 21, 1991. In the episode, Homer tells Moe Szyslak of a secret alcoholic cocktail that includes cough medicine and fire that he calls "Flaming Homer"...
, Bart's prank call backfires when he calls up asking for "Hugh Jass", only for a man with the same name to answer.
"Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
's song "Phony Calls" (a parody of "Waterfalls") deals with prank phone calls. Specifically, it talks about the "Is your refrigerator running?" gag and the "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" gag. It also incorporates one of Bart Simpson's prank phone calls.
A Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
series, Regular Show
Regular Show
Regular Show is an American animated television series created by J. G. Quintel...
, had an episode that involved prank calling, it was called "Prank Callers" and aired on November 1, 2010. It involves Mordecai and Rigby pranking people via their phone.
Frank Neal Garrett died on 3 July 2011. He lived in Stilwell, Oklahoma and was an extremely famous prank call victim who became popular on YouTube and in the prank calling community. Prank calls involving his voice stirred controversy in Independence, Missouri and in Houston, Texas when pranksters edited Frank Garrett's voice to make threatening phone calls. Both instances were covered by Fox News.
During KWIN radio broadcasts a Carmen Prank Call will occur, where "Carmen" calls random people and annoys them to the point of them hanging up, irritated, once, and after a second call, twice.
See also
- Nuisance callNuisance callNuisance calls encompass any type of unwanted, unsolicited, telephone call. Common types of nuisance calls include prank calls, telemarketing calls, and silent calls. Obscene phone calls and other threatening calls are criminal acts in most jurisdictions, particularly when hate crime is...
- Bomb threatBomb threatA bomb threat is generally defined as a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to cause property damage, death, or injuries, whether or not such a device actually exists...
- Caller ID spoofingCaller ID spoofingCaller ID spoofing is the practice of causing the telephone network to display a number on the recipient's Caller ID display that is not that of the actual originating station. The term is commonly used to describe situations in which the motivation is considered malicious by the speaker or writer...
- FonejackerFonejackerFonejacker is a British comedy programme broadcast on E4 featuring a series of prank calls involving a number of different characters performed by British Iranian television actor Kayvan Novak. It first appeared in May 2006, although it did not become a full series until 2007.The first series began...
- Soundboard (computer program)
- Jerky BoysJerky BoysThe Jerky Boys are an American comedy duo from Queens, New York, whose routine consists of prank telephone calls and other related skits. Formed in 1989, The Jerky Boys were made up of childhood friends Johnny Brennan and Kamal Ahmed...
- Dr. TangalangaDr. TangalangaJulio Victorio De Rissio , better known with the stage name of Dr. Tangalanga, is a popular Argentine comedian who makes prank phone calls to unsuspecting recipients....
- Roy D. MercerRoy D. MercerRoy D. Mercer is a fictional character created by disc jockeys Brent Douglas and Phil Stone on radio station KMOD-FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Douglas, who performs Mercer's voice, uses the character as a vehicle for comedy sketches in which he performs prank calls. Seventeen Roy D...
- Text rouletteText rouletteText roulette or SMS roulette is a game played chiefly by minors, in which they compose a message on their mobile phone then send it to one of their contacts or a made-up number at random....
- The Masked Avengers' prank on Sarah PalinThe Masked Avengers' prank on Sarah PalinOn November 1, 2008, American vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin fell prey to a prank call by the Masked Avengers, a Canadian radio comedy duo, who tricked Palin into believing she was talking to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. During the conversation, the fake Sarkozy talked to Palin about...
- Touch-Tone TerroristsTouch-Tone TerroristsThe Touch-Tone Terrorists is a series of prank phone calls comedy CDs.-About:The Touch-Tone Terrorists are actually one man, Pete Zoghi who also goes by the name of "RePete"...
- Tube Bar
- Guido HatzisGuido HatzisGuido Hatzis is a Greek-Australian comic character created by Australian comedians Tony Moclair and Julian Schiller and voiced by Moclair. Guido appeared originally on Schiller and Moclair's radio program "Crud" on the Australian Radio Network Triple M....
- Longmont Potion CastleLongmont Potion CastleLongmont Potion Castle is the pseudonym of an anonymous surrealist prank caller who has been active in theColorado and Los Angeles areas since1987. Details abouthis personal life are scarce and his real name is unknown to the public...
- Malicious Caller IdentificationMalicious Caller IdentificationMalicious Caller Identification , also called Malicious Call Trace or Caller Activated Malicious Call Trace is a facility which enables a phone call recipient to mark a phone call as malicious The phone system will then automatically trace the call...