People are inadvertently calling the emergency services thanks to a new iPhone prank that is doing the rounds.
Owners of the Apple phones are being encouraged by their friends to say “108” to Siri, the phone’s built-in digital assistant. However, as soon as they do they are being connected to the emergency services.
108 is the equivalent of 999 in India. Siri recognise this as a command to contact emergency services in the phone user’s local area and dials for them, just in case they are not able to do so themselves.
Some pranksters are taking things even further, by telling users to close their eyes for five seconds after saying “108” which prevents them from realising what is happening and disconnecting the call.
It may be intended as a bit of harmless fun, but emergency services are stretched pretty thin as it is. Furthermore, people who are caught wasting emergency services’ time could face punishment from the police.
