‘Swatting’ world’s best Fortnite player
Success creates jealousy and Kyle Giersdorf was among those who fell victim to the latest “swatting” incidents in the US. There are two things to know before I proceed with the story. Let me help you find the definition of swatting and who Giersdorf is.
According to UrbanDictionary.com, swatting is an Internet prank/crime where someone finds your address either through your IP or because your name and location is known. These pranksters then proceed to call emergency services to report a nonexistent or fake crime.
Swatters usually falsely report that someone is committing suicide or, worse, a hostage taking is occurring at your residence. Police will then dispatch their elite unit, the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to your home.
This prank is extremely dangerous as it puts the safety of innocent people at risk. ArsTechnica.com reported that a man in Kansas was killed in 2017 after someone called the police about a fake hostage situation. The suspect behind the hoax was then sentenced to serve between 20 to 25 years in jail. The trend behind swatting started with livestream gamers, but it transcended into victimizing celebrities like Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.
Giersdorf — more popularly known by his online gaming handle “Bugha” — is the latest high-profile victim of Swatters. Bugha, who is just 16 years old, recently won $3 million at a Fortnite tournament. Fortnite is one of the most popular games at the moment with an estimated 250 million people playing around the world.
During a recent livestream session, Bugha suddenly stopped after his father called him about the presence of armed SWAT officers at the door. Kotaku.com said the gameplay stopped for about 10 minutes before he returned to his desk. “They come in with guns, bro. They literally pulled up, holy (expletive),” he said after the situation was diffused. Luckily, one of the police officers who responded to the fake emergency call recognized Bugha.
In the Philippines, there have been no publicized swatting incidents yet, but there are thousands of fake calls flooding the emergency number 911. The Philippine National Police has warned pranksters not to abuse the service line intended for real emergencies.
Sen. Bong Go filled a bill to punish pranksters of emergency hotlines. The Senate Bill or Anti-Prank Callers Act of 2019, will lead to arrest and a P5,000 fine for the first offense. Repeat offenders will have pranksters sent to prison.
“Emergency hotlines established for the purpose of responding to emergency situations shall, at all times, be free from receiving unnecessary calls. It shall be prohibited for any individual to make prank calls to any hotline at any time,” Go said in his bill.
With the rise of online gaming and competitive tournaments in the country, I hope swatting will not be replicated here anytime soon.
“This prank is extremely dangerous as it puts the safety of innocent people at risk.
“Fortnite
is one of the most popular games at the moment with an estimated 250 million people playing around the world.