BlackBerry prank blocks UAE's '999' lines

Abu Dhabi Police recieved more than 13,000 emergency calls in just five hours on Monday after a hoax message was sent out to BlackBerry users across the UAE.

The message read: “A person took a screenshot while he was calling the police, see what happened!” When users clicked on the link that came with the message, their device automatically called the 999 emergency number, reported '7Days'.

The police quickly on realising what had happened asked radio stations to broadcast a message to address BlackBerry users not to click on the link.

Between 5pm and 10pm, the Abu Dhabi Police switchboard received 13,338 calls. When police contacted some users who placed the 999 calls, they were unaware of their action.

The Police Information Technology Department along with etisalat are on a massive hunt to nab those responsible for the prank.
 

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