Officials Warn iPhone Users of Dangerous and Illegal Siri Prank
A new social media prank is tricking iPhone users into tying up emergency services lines with Siri.
You've seen a lot of different Siri suggestions on social media, showing you the different things Siri will respond to and movies it will reference. For example, asking Siri pop culture questions like "What is the airspeed velocity of a Swallow?" or "Please call the Ghostbusters" will result in humorous responses. But a recent online trend is encouraging users to tell Siri to call 108, saying the result is funny. In reality, you are asking Siri to call emergency services.
According to NBCDFW, Apple designed the iPhone, and by extension Siri, to recognize emergency numbers from across the world. "108" is the emergency phone number for India, but asking Siri to call it in the states will result in your phone calling 911. Officials warn that the prank will tie up emergency lines and delay response times in life-or-death emergency situations. Other numbers this has been known to work with are 000, 110, and 112.
iPhone users who fall for the prank do have a short window of opportunity, usually a few seconds, to cancel the call before it actually connects. False calls to 911 are investigated and offenders could be subject to legal ramifications.