Swatting: A Dangerous Prank
What is swatting? You've probably seen it in the news recently - famous celebrities in Los Angeles like Chris Brown , Miley Cyrus , Justin Bieber , Ashton Kutcher , Simon Cowell , Tom Cruise , and the Kardashians have been targeted. Swatting is when a hacker pretends to be someone by hacking their phone line, cal\lling 911, and reporting a fake emergency to the victim's address - normally a kidnapping/hostages, bombings, shootings, or murders - which requires heavy police presence to respond to the home, sometimes with guns drawn, only to have police show up to find that the call was a hoax. It seems to be an evolution of ' phreakers ' who gained notice in the 1970s when they would hack into phone companies computers and make free long-distance calls. These calls are very dangerous because they are similar to calls departments receive about real shootings or murders. The police show up ready for a crazy person, possibly armed, only to find innocent victims. B