According to the BBC, a series of widely circulating viral text messages warn that several people have already died when they picked up calls from ID 09141. The outcries have gotten to the point that Nigerian officials have had to reassure the public, that no, in fact, simply answering a phone call will not kill you dead — a la The Ring.
“Technically, it is not possible for such a thing to happen. It is therefore unimaginable that somebody will die while receiving a call,” Nigerian Communications Commission spokesman Reuben Muoka said. “It is only very gullible people that will believe such a rumour.”
So who’s to blame exacerbating this situation? The country’s low education rate? Its people’s deeply-held superstitions? Internet Scammers? No matter the culprit, the Nigerian people would do well to screen their calls, just in case.
[BBC News]
Image: APImages
ozoneocean
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 2:08 PMThere are morons everywhere.
The crazed US political candidate Michelle Bachman is spreading the idea that the HPV vaccination can cause “mental retardation” even though such a thing is technically, medically and physically impossible.
And people believe her there.
So you could probably successfully spread a rumour like this phone killing thing in ANY country and it would have traction, including here in Australia -look at the climate change deniers for evidence.
Terry
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 3:54 PMYep and add those people who believe that living under power lines can hurt you.
Gordy
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 2:40 PMThere are more morons than there are non-morons in this world.
This is probably why we have:
1) bad politicians
2) crummy reality TV shows
3) lack of good and in depth news and analysis
4) a paucity of science/tech TV programs
5) Lack of respect for science and engineering
6) too much sport and entertainment trivia and titillation
etc
Brizeycon
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 3:11 PMtitillation….hehehe
Aaron Browning
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 3:30 PMhahahaha
Dan
Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 4:19 AMIs there such a thing as a good politician?
3uph0riac
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 3:34 PMI find it funny that the initial reaction to this article seems to be mocking those who fell victim to the texts because to our society it seems ridiculous.
ozoneocean is right, the only difference is for a rumour like this to gain any credibility in a more western society you’d have to employ scientific jargon, suggesting the call plays the harmonic frequency of the human skull causing it to shatter, much like how some opera singers can shatter glasses could work…
…of course you’d have to ignore the fact that mobile phone speakers lack the output power or frequency range required to produce such a tone but then again, it’s only a rumour.
glennc
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 4:48 PMno different to believing in religion really.
and actually… my sister got a shock when lightning hit the powerlines while she was on the phone. i saw the flash come out of the ear piece. you need to re-word it to mobile phones
“If lightning strikes the phone line outside your house, the strike will travel to every phone on the line — and potentially to you if you are holding the phone.”
Steve
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 1:40 PMYou don’t believe that religion exists?
poltak
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 6:40 PMSounds like the rumour in South Korea (which was apparently spread by the government) about how if you left your fan on during the night in the same room that you slept, it will kill you through suffocation. I think it was somehow related to saving power… cannot exactly remember the reason it was spread.
I asked a few friends about it, who are Korean, and much to my surprise they fully believed it and were quite shocked when I explained that it was not true.