This idiocy called Swatting

[Fragile Bird]

When I was a teenager, people who wanted to be mean to others ordered pizzas to be delivered to their victim's home. Or filled out magazine subscription cards for Playboy to embarrass a fellow student. Or called someone at midnight, announced it was the electricity company, asked if their refrigerator was running, and then told then to go catch it when the victim said yes.

But now it seems the witty and technology wise young person (those who have been caught seem to be in their teens or twenties) call 911 and report men with guns breaking into someone's house, or say they've seen people with guns in the high school, or something else horrible that will draw a dozen police cars and the SWAT team. Ergo, this game is called "Swatting".

All you have to do is know how to cover your tracks.

Recently in the Toronto area five grade schools went into lockdown because someone called police and said armed gunmen were going to a school to harm people. The named school and four nearby schools were told to go into emergency mode in case it was true.

A family two days ago was woken up in the middle of the night by loud banging on the door. When the father went down to see what was happening, he saw police outside demanding to be let in. He opened the door and they ordered him on the ground and handcuffed him, while they searched the house looking for evidence of dead family members and guns. They had received an emergency call saying a man had shot his family and was barricaded in the house.

When the hell did this become a socially acceptable game to play? Why is it happening? Because people hate police so much they think it's fun to waste police resources?

Is this happening in your neighbourhood as well?

[White Walker Texas Ranger]

It's obviously terrible, but are we sure it's trend rather than a few sociopathic dipshits getting blown up by the media (ala "knockout")?

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

FB,

This has been going on for a while. It's never been considered "okay" to anyone but a very sick group of people.

[Inigima]

Yes, I wouldn't call it a trend but it is occurring regularly enough that it has a name and is a recognized tactic. Sometimes it's done for funsies, sometimes it's retaliation.

[Wise Fool]

If this exists, it ought not to exist.

[NestorMakhnosLovechild]

There's a very small chance that this thread will evolve into anything other than outrage porn. This is obviously terrible and indefensible and could have potentially tragic real life consequences. The only real "discussion" you can have about it that's not a circle jerk is how to prevent it and/or punish it.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Nestor,

I don't see how it can be stopped without serious efforts to catch and prosecute the perpetrators or stop treating all reports of "armed and dangerous" with equal importance.

[Stan Man]

As a younger person, it's not a trend.

Planking was a trend.

The Harlem Shake was a trend.

This is, for lack of a better word, dipshittery.

[Fragile Bird]

I have just seen another report on this practice, and I'm rather stunned to see it started in the gaming community, where it was done to prevent someone from winning a game. And it's more fun when cameras are on, so the gamers can watch the swat team show up live.

Nestor, I agree. I'm sure pretty well all of us think it's disgusting and wouldn't do it, but how do you prevent it?

[Shryke]

I have just seen another report on this practice, and I'm rather stunned to see it started in the gaming community, where it was done to prevent someone from winning a game. And it's more fun when cameras are on, so the gamers can watch the swat team show up live.

Nestor, I agree. I'm sure pretty well all of us think it's disgusting and wouldn't do it, but how do you prevent it?

Investigate people who make false 911 calls?

[Inigima]

The problem is that's quite hard to do. Phone numbers can be spoofed and it can be done internationally from a computer.

[Theda Baratheon]

I don't think this is a trend with "younger people" just a few dumb shits. Can't understand why people would find this funny though.

[Kindly Old Man]

If this exists, it ought not to exist.

Just another instance of the universe playing with itself. Don't be so serious.

[Wise Fool]

It does however bespeak of flaws in the system of which we are a part, and in which we live.

[Fragile Bird]

I don't think this is a trend with "younger people" just a few dumb shits. Can't understand why people would find this funny though.

Well, young people have a different sense of humour. Humour does change as you age. I don't think I'm unfairly saying 'young people', it's just the way it goes.

And btw, some of the 'young people' who have been caught were teens in Canada.

Earlier this month a Coquitlam, B.C., teen pleaded guilty to 23 charges related to swatting calls directly primarily at his online rivals in the U.S. Last year, a then 16-year-old Ottawa gamer was charged with 60 offences in connection to at least 30 swatting incidents across the continent.

A number of high-profile American celebrities have also been targeted.

"It's shockingly easy to do," says technology analyst Carmi Levy, adding that there are websites that can help obscure the origins of calls.

"You can make it seem like you're calling from a local region, from someone else's house. They'll in fact never know who placed the fake call to 911," he says.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/swatting-hoax-leads-to-traumatic-night-for-richmond-hill-family-1.3085807

[maarsen]

I remember playing a game as a kid called "nicky nicky nine doors". We would knock on someone's door and run and hide as they would open the door and find no one there. I was about 5 and my older brother's friend showed us this. The advance of technology leaves a lot to be desired.

[ElizabethB.]

I almost shipped someone glitter once.

[HexMachina]

I remember playing a game as a kid called "nicky nicky nine doors". We would knock on someone's door and run and hide as they would open the door and find no one there. I was about 5 and my older brother's friend showed us this. The advance of technology leaves a lot to be desired.

I remember playing this too, and that would only have been 12 or so years back now. It's not a nice game when I think on it now, but certainly not as awful and ridiculous as this Swatting thing

[Bonesy]

I AM OUTRAGED!

Excuse me, I just came.

[karaddin]

I was of the opinion that when it first started happening they needed to throw resources at it to find the first few doing it, or it would become a thing. Sure it may not be that widespread, but it's another tool in the arsenal of doxxing etc that is employed to harass people online in addition to the doing it for "funsies and lulz". I still think throwing the book at people they manage to catch is the best deterrent available, but having seen many get away with it I can't help but think it will be less effective now than if they had managed to get the first few that did it.

Another one of the ways gamer culture has displayed it's toxicity in the last year and pushed a wedge through the middle.