When we were younger, we might have made prank calls to our friends for a bit of a harmless chuckle.
However, it was no laughing matter when a man made hoax calls to the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and the police on 31 occasions.
Over a period of about three weeks, he reported serious emergencies such as attempted suicide, fires, and sexual offences.
The SCDF and Police responded to these reports but found no evidence that the incidents took place.
Police arrested him on 18 Sep, as well as another prank-calling woman on 16 Sep.
One should only dial for emergency services in serious situations.
However, a fully grown 34-year-old man made 31 prank calls to the police and SCDF from 26 Aug to 14 Sep.
That’s an average of at least one hoax call every day.
Source: Onur Binay on Unsplash, for illustration purposes only
According to a police press statement, he reported emergency situations including suicide attempts, loanshark harassment, fires, and serious sexual crimes at various locations across Singapore.
The SCDF and Police responded to these yet ended up wasting their time as they found none of the cases were legitimate.
Clearly, the prank caller knew his actions were illegal.
He took many precautions to hide his identity, including using fake personas during calls and using a foreign number.
Yet ultimately, he failed to escape the consequences of his actions.
Police officers meticulously analysed his call patterns and performed extensive enquiries on the ground.
Officers from Bedok Police Division eventually managed to establish the prankster’s identity and arrested him on 18 Sep.
Additionally, a 27-year-old woman made two prank calls on 26 Aug.
She reported a case of attempted suicide at a Pasir Ris HDB block, but the SCDF and police found no such incident when they arrived at the scene.
Once again, officers from Bedok Police Division successfully identified the culprit and arrested her on 16 Sep.
Source: Bedok NPC on Facebook
During the arrest, the woman refused to cooperate and attempted to resist handing her digital device over to police.
Police consequently arrested her over resistance to the taking of property by the lawful authority of a public servant.
She was charged in court today (28 Sep) with two counts of making harassing calls to emergency numbers.
Similarly, the man was charged on the same day for 27 of the same counts as the woman, in addition to four counts of communicating false information about a harmful thing.
The police noted that from January to August 2023, call operators received over 5,000 ‘999’ calls a day.
The vast majority — over 4,000 — were silent calls from mobile phones and not genuine emergencies.
Source: Singapore Police Force via Ministry of Home Affairs
This resulted in longer waiting times for real emergency calls, an issue only amplified by prank calls.
They also divert resources and time from actual emergency situations, so they’re far from harmless.
For this reason, those convicted of making harassing or obscene telephone calls to emergency numbers may be jailed for up to a year or fined up to S$5,000 or both.
If convicted of communicating false information about a harmful thing, they may face up to seven years’ jail or a fine of up to S$50,000 or both.
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Featured image adapted from Onur Binay on Unsplash and by MS News, for illustration purposes only.
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