The Art of the Prank » Hoax Etiquette

Prankenstein scammers

What not to do:

4 Charged in False Brain Surgery Claims
June 2, 2007

New York (AP) — Four people billed a health insurance company for 20 brain operations that were never performed on them, sometimes for the same person on multiple occasions, authorities said.

One 36-year-old man from New York City claimed nine brain surgeries for himself, along with his wife and two sons, receiving reimbursements from New York-based Group Health Incorporated totaling $142,268, federal investigators said Friday. Read the whole story here.

Posted: June 3rd, 2007

Pass the dressing. Hold the sperm.

What not to do!

Salad Dressing Semen Spawns Trouble
May 24, 2007

Wheaton, Ill. (AP) — A judge has ordered a 17-year-old to pay a $750 fine and perform 120 hours of community service for contaminating salad dressing with semen and returning it to a suburban Chicago high school’s cafeteria.

DuPage County Judge Terence Sheen also placed Marco Castro on two years probation Wednesday and ordered him to write a letter of apology to Wheaton North High School officials. Castro must complete his community service work for an agency that works with AIDS patients. Read the rest of the story here.

Posted: May 25th, 2007

The Writing is on the Wall

posted by Moderator
Filed under: Hoax Etiquette, What Makes a Good Prank?

From: katra.vox.com

On the other hand… what not to do:

A 13 year old boy was arrested and held without bail on suspicion of making a criminal threat after he allegedly wrote “Shooting Friday” as a prank on a bathroom wall at his school in Vista, California. Read the story here.

Posted: May 11th, 2007

Prank You Very Much: The Etiquette of Hoaxing

by Nancy Weber
Filed under: Hoax Etiquette, Practical Jokes and Mischief, Why Do a Prank?

In my natal family, the holiest of holidays were April Fools, Valentine’s, Halloween, and the first night of Passover, in that order. To joke was to love was to entertain was to celebrate liberty. My friends were brought up to take praying seriously; my brother and I, to take playing seriously. (more…)