On-Line Community Tunes in For Pranks

The FBI has arrested and charged a 16 year-old North Carolina youth who made threatening prank calls for fun and profit, part of an on-line culture using the Internet to reach out to any location. While the boy never dialed 911 or police, the background of the incident and technology used are instructive for public safety dispatchers who handle telephone calls and who might be targeted for pranks. The boy, who is not named because he is a juvenile, allegedly used the VoIP conferencing software Ventrilo to make calls, while up to 300 persons listened in on the often-crude and racist calls he made to individuals. According to a Wired.com article, the Web site PartyVanPranks.com was used to facilitate the on-line gatherings. At some point, he began accepting money from people who wanted him to phone in bomb threats at schools in order to get out of classes. The youth was fingered by one of his followers, who felt the boy had crossed over the line. Read more about his arrest, listen to a bomb threat call, and his mother’s possible involvement here.