Everyone loves a good prank, but sometimes, people take it to extremes. Of course, nothing good can come out of such a prank, but there is no stopping a bored son from terrorizing his entire family.
This is precisely what happened to TikTok star Lawson Spolansky, who uploaded a video to the platform on June 3, sharing what is probably one of the most insane pranks we’ve ever heard. The whole thing took place in 2020 when he discovered the wonders of burner apps. Naturally, the content creator couldn’t just keep that knowledge to himself; he had to put it to use ASAP, and to accomplish that, he decided that pulling a prank on his father was the way to go.
In case you’re not aware, burner apps work by disguising your phone number, and Spolansky took full advantage of that by texting his father. Only they weren’t harmless texts, oh no. “I know what you did to me in high school,” the first one read, but it wasn’t creepy enough for the TikToker’s taste. Soon, the content of the texts started escalating, with threats like “I’m gonna get you” making their way to the father’s phone. All horrible things, really. Even so, Spolansky didn’t pull back.
The son continued with the prank for a few days, choosing to target his brother, sister, and mother as well. The police were brought into the picture, of course, but they didn’t do much to help the family feel safe (to no one’s surprise). It wasn’t until 13 days later, when his uncle called with the news, that Spolansky realized he had been put on a local FBI wanted list under “cyber threats”. Well, his name wasn’t on it, but his fake phone number sure was.
How did Spolansky get caught? As it turns out, the TikToker made the crucial mistake of purchasing the burner app with his father’s credit card. Yeah… not his brightest moment. That’s what happens when you use daddy’s money to torment your entire family. In fairness, the content creator spent almost two weeks hiding in shame inside his bedroom after his cover was blown, so it seems he learned his lesson, at least.
Regardless, this is a crazy prank to pull on anyone, let alone people you love, but it is pretty funny from an outsider’s perspective. “This is killing me, why did you actually do this?” one person commented on the video, while another wrote: “Sir you are truly a menace.” The most foolish part of it all, though, is how far Spolansky let the situation get: “Your dad gets police involved and you’re like ‘yeah still continuing this.'”
Thankfully, things ended well for this TikToer and his family, but not everyone is so lucky. There are some very extreme cases of pranks gone wrong out there, as they can sometimes end in fatality, as reported by BBC. Granted, about 46 percent of American adults enjoy pulling pranks on others, according to a YouGov survey, but let’s think twice before acting on them. They might backfire spectacularly.