FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KDVR) — Fountain police are warning Colorado residents about a social media prank involving AI altered photos and videos that prompted a huge police response last week.
“It was something that we had never faced before and the pictures looked real,” said Lisa Schneider, public information officer at the Fountain Police Department.
Schneider says an adult daughter texted her mom that a strange man was in the house.
“The daughter sent a picture of this man inside the home, so of course the mom was terrified. She called 911,” Schneider said.
Multiple officers responded to the home for what they believed was a burglary in progress. Initially no one answered the door. As officers prepared to force entry, the daughter came out and let them know it was a prank.
Officers say the trend is nicknamed the “AI Homeless Man Prank” and is popular on social media. Users can insert the AI generated man into real backgrounds to create fake images and videos that look very real.
Officers say that pranks like this may seem like a joke, but they can cause panic for family members, waste emergency responder resources and can result in legal consequences. No charges were filed in this case, but officers want to raise awareness.
“We want people to have a good time, but there are certain pranks, this being one of them, it’s not funny and we do need to educate everybody on what that looks like and how it can waste those resources,” Schneider said.
Fountain Police say there were no other calls at the time of this prank, and service was not delayed. But if there had been a call needing those officers, it would have been a bad situation.
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