The police department in Salem, Massachusetts, is warning residents about a viral TikTok prank that uses artificial intelligence to create fake images of people attempting to break into homes, prompting panicked 911 calls and wasting emergency resources.
The prank involves using image generators to create realistic-looking photos that show what appears to be a homeless person at someone's door or inside their home, appearing to refuse to leave. While the home setting is real, the person is completely fabricated using AI.
Pranksters then send these AI-generated images via text to unsuspecting homeowners, relatives or friends, claiming they found an uninvited person in the home.
The reactions — whether by text or phone call — are recorded and posted to social media for entertainment and to generate clicks and likes.
In several cases, people who received these fake images genuinely believed there was an actual intruder in their home and called 911 to report a burglary or breaking and entering in progress.
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"Besides being in bad taste, there are many reasons why this prank is, to put it bluntly, stupid and potentially dangerous," Salem police said in a statement.
The department warns that this prank dehumanizes homeless individuals, causes distressed recipients to panic and wastes valuable police resources. Officers responding to these calls don't know it's a prank and treat each report as an actual burglary in progress, creating potentially dangerous situations.
Pranksters could face serious legal consequences under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 269 Section 14B, which addresses willful and malicious communication of false information to public safety answering points.
The law states that anyone who "willfully and maliciously communicates with a PSAP, or causes a communication to be made to a PSAP, which communication transmits information which the person knows or has reason to know is false and which results in the dispatch of emergency services to a nonexistent emergency" can face up to 2.5 years in jail or fines up to $1,000.
"Think of the consequences before you prank," police warned.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
