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Wave of Hotel Pranks
As noted by Beasjt in the forum, there's been a case of a phone prankster tricking a couple into smashing up a hotel room by telling them there's a gas leak. I reported a case of an identical prank in April. The Boston Herald describes these incidents as part of a "wave of hotel pranks":
The Monday incident follows others from around the country:
In Arkansas, a caller posing as a sprinkler company employee convinced a motel employee to do more than $50,000 in damage to a motel as part of a "test" of the motel’s emergency alarms.
At a Comfort Suites in Daphne, Ala., a caller ordered a guest to turn on the sprinklers for a fire that wasn’t. The result: more than $10,000 in damage.
In Nebraska, a Hampton Inn employee was convinced by a caller to pull the fire alarm, later telling him the only way to silence the alarm was by breaking the lobby windows. The employee enlisted the help of a nearby trucker, who drove his rig through the front door.
In Arkansas, a caller posing as a sprinkler company employee convinced a motel employee to do more than $50,000 in damage to a motel as part of a "test" of the motel’s emergency alarms.
At a Comfort Suites in Daphne, Ala., a caller ordered a guest to turn on the sprinklers for a fire that wasn’t. The result: more than $10,000 in damage.
In Nebraska, a Hampton Inn employee was convinced by a caller to pull the fire alarm, later telling him the only way to silence the alarm was by breaking the lobby windows. The employee enlisted the help of a nearby trucker, who drove his rig through the front door.
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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To me this appears to be part of the post-9/11 culture of "do whatever an authority figure tells you to do." Take off your shoes at the airport; don't carry more than two ounces of shampoo; stand in the "Free Speech Zone" if you want to protest, etc.
"Gee, someone I don't know and have no way of verifying claimed to be a boss and told me to turn on the sprinklers. Guess I better just do it without question."
Posted by Cranky Media Guy on Thu Jul 09, 2009 at 10:24 PM
"Gee, someone I don't know and have no way of verifying claimed to be a boss and told me to turn on the sprinklers. Guess I better just do it without question."
Weird. THere was a report of a local incident of someone prank calling a hotel to get stupid people to do stupid things on the 100 o'clock news last night.
http://www.wgal.com/news/20005074/detail.html
Posted by yoyogod on Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 08:04 AM
http://www.wgal.com/news/20005074/detail.html
oy
Posted by Hairy Houdini on Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 08:24 AM
wow, your local news airs pretty late.
Posted by Anonymous on Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 01:38 PM
How many of these stories are the actual hoax?
And if this actually happened, why the assumption that the couple is telling the truth? Isn't even more likely that they just trashed the place and then lied?
Posted by Joe on Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 02:42 PM
And if this actually happened, why the assumption that the couple is telling the truth? Isn't even more likely that they just trashed the place and then lied?
You also have to wonder in these cases, how sure are we that the people involved were actually ignorant that what they were doing wasn't what they should be doing? I can readily imagine somebody getting such a call and thinking, "Hey, this bogus call will give me the perfect excuse to set off the fire sprinkler system! I always wanted to do that!"
Posted by Accipiter in the Northern Hemisphere, unless They have lied. on Sat Jul 11, 2009 at 12:22 PM
THIS IS DEX'S INFO THE head HOTEL PRANKER
I HOPE THE FBI ARRESTS HIM
http://www.wix.com/TariqMalik/TariqMalik
Posted by dta mike 85 in northern ohio on Sun Jul 12, 2009 at 11:52 PM
I HOPE THE FBI ARRESTS HIM
http://www.wix.com/TariqMalik/TariqMalik
The Smoking Gun did a major expose on these guys.
They're not "pranksters." -and I love good prank.
These guys cross the line, big-time.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0803091pranknet1.html
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0806091markle1.html
Posted by Dr.T in KC on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 05:03 PM
They're not "pranksters." -and I love good prank.
These guys cross the line, big-time.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0803091pranknet1.html
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0806091markle1.html
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