Multiple police departments across the United States and United Kingdom have issued warnings about a social media prank in which young people create AI-generated images of homeless individuals in their homes and send them to parents, prompting emergency calls that waste law enforcement resources.
The prank involves using generative AI tools, primarily Snapchat’s features, to create images of dishevelled people who appear to have entered homes uninvited. Pranksters send these images to parents claiming the person wanted to use the bathroom, take a nap or get a drink of water, often adding that the individual claimed to know the parents from work or college, reports Gizmodo.
Several incidents have resulted in parents calling emergency services. The Round Rock Police Department in Texas responded to two calls sparked by the trend, both of which turned out to be hoaxes. The department described the situations as “the misuse of emergency services” and warned that making false reports can tie up emergency resources and delay responses to legitimate calls.
The Oak Harbor Police Department in Washington responded to a call about a homeless individual at a high school campus, which turned out to be a false report. In the UK, Dorset Police received a call from an extremely concerned parent who believed a man was in their family home whilst their daughter was alone.
The Salem Police Department in Massachusetts issued a public statement warning: “This prank dehumanizes the homeless, causes the distressed recipient to panic and wastes police resources. Police officers who are called upon to respond do not know this is a prank and treat the call as an actual burglary in progress thus creating a potentially dangerous situation.”
The hashtag #homelessmanprank now has more than 1,200 videos linked to it on TikTok, with some clips receiving nearly one million likes. Numerous tutorials demonstrate how to generate the required images.
Round Rock Police Patrol Division Commander Andy McKinney told NBC that calls about intruders cause aggressive police responses involving officers clearing homes with weapons drawn, and could potentially trigger SWAT team deployments, reports The Verge.
