Urban Legends and Myths

The Phone Call of Death: 999-999-9999

IT GOES without saying that I'm the recipient of strange and disconcerting emails from time to time, but one day last week I found a creepier-than-usual message in my inbox from a reader named Anna. Little did I realize it would become even creepier as the day wore on. This is what she wrote:

"I just got a call from 999-999-9999 on my cell phone... called it back and got my Nextel directory assistance who say they can't call out. I looked it up on Google and there was reference to a Thai movie that had a similar plot to The Ring, except you actually call the number and something horrible happens to you. Any news on this one?"

I Googled it myself and, sure enough, buried among dozens of results confirming that lots of other folks have received mysterious calls from this same number I found a web page hawking DVDs of a movie called 999-999-9999, the plot of which is described as follows:  

A transfer student becomes the center of her attention at her new school when she relates the tales of the mysterious deaths at her old school. She reports that the deaths are linked to an evil phone number — 999-999-999, that will grant the wish of any caller — but with a price. Despite her warnings against using the phone number, many of her new friends cannot resist the temptation and one by one they meet with a grisly "accident."

Naturally, I had to try this myself. I dialed the number. Click. A recorded message said: "Your call cannot be completed as dialed." Feeling no ill effects, I made a mental note to look into it further and went back to reading my email.

Several hours later the phone rang. Though I was busy and didn't pick up, curiosity got the better of me when I saw the "new message" light come on, so I checked the caller ID.

This, I kid you not, is what I saw (cue sinister music):

"Unknown Name. 999-999-9999."

Could it possibly be just a coincidence? What are the odds? I punched in my voicemail code. This is what I heard (raise volume on sinister music):

"Hello. This is a friendly reminder from Blockbuster. Our records show that as of Thursday, November 17th, Jeff _______ has some items that have not been returned by the due date listed on your receipt."

Mystery solved. Apparently, Blockbuster Video uses the same caller ID spoofing technology employed by collection agencies, unscrupulous telemarketers, and not a few con artists to prevent recipients of their calls from knowing who's on the other end of the line. Mundane, but true. I gather the practice is becoming increasingly common.

Not only did I survive the "phone call of death," I am relieved to say, but as it turns out my Blockbuster Video account is in perfectly good standing. The deadbeat they were trying to get in touch had given them the wrong phone number. One day he will receive a mysterious call....

Update: In April 2007, panic erupted in Pakistan and parts of the Middle East and Africa after emails circulated warning mobile phone users against accepting calls from certain numbers lest they be subjected to a high-frequency signal that could cause brain hemorrhage and death. Authorities ruled the warnings a hoax.

Forwarded emails and text messages warn mobile phone users not to accept calls from certain numbers which allegedly transmit a high-frequency signal causing brain hemorrhage and death.

Description: Rumor / Hoax
Circulating since: April 2007
Status: False (see details below)

2011 examples:
Text messages circulating in Nigeria, Sep. 14, 2011:

Please, don't pick any call with 09141 its instant death after the call, 7 people have died already.please tell others fast,its urgent.

----------

Pls don’t pick any call wit 09141 its instant dead tell others

2010 example:
As posted in an online forum, Sep. 1, 2010:

FW: Number za Shetani

Hi Colleagues,

I don’t know how true this is but just take precaution. Please don’t attend to any calls from the following numbers:

* 7888308001 *
* 9316048121 *
* 9876266211 *
* 9888854137 *
* 9876715587 *

These numbers come in red colors. U may get brain hemorrhage due to high frequency. 27 persons died just receiving the calls watch the DD news to confirm. Please inform all your relatives and friends soon it’s urgent.

2007 example:
Email contributed by Youssef B., May 2, 2007:

Hi All,

Its very important news for all of you. Do not pick up calls Under given numbers.

, 9888308001
, 9316048121 91+
, 9876266211
, 9888854137
, 9876715587

These numbers will come in red color, if the calls comes up from these numbers. Its with very high wave length, and frequency. If a call is received on mobile from these numbers, it creates a very high frequency and it causes brain ham range.

It's not a joke rather, its TRUE. 27 persons died just on receiving calls from these numbers. Watch Aaj Tak (NEWS), DD News and IBN 7.

Forward this message to all u'r friends and colleagues, and relatives

Analysis: (Updated) Don't panic, it's a hoax. Variants of the so-called "red number," "cursed phone number," or "death call" hoax first appeared on April 13, 2007 (Friday the 13th) in Pakistan, where they caused widespread panic and inspired a slew of ancillary rumors, including the claim that the phone calls, if listened to, could also trigger impotence in men and pregnancy in women. According to news reports, Pakistanis were heard trading secondhand stories of actual deaths that had supposedly occurred, with some claiming the fatalities were the handiwork of ancestral spirits enraged by the construction of a cell phone tower over a graveyard.

In an effort to quell the hysteria, government officials and mobile phone providers issued statements disproving the rumors, but, just as they began to subside in Pakistan, similar messages commenced spreading throughout Asia, the Middle East, and finally Africa. MTN Areeba, the largest cellular network in Ghana, released a statement echoing the assurances previously made by other providers: "A full scale national and international priority investigation has been conducted in the last 48 hours," a spokesperson said. "The investigation has confirmed that these rumours are completely unsubstantiated and have no technological evidence to support them."

According to engineers, cell phones are incapable of emitting sound frequencies that could cause immediate physical injury or death.

Earlier (2004) variant suggests rumor may have originated in Africa

In July 2004 a much simpler version of this rumor caused a minor outbreak of panic in Nigeria. An example of the forwarded text message published on South Africa's Independent Online news website read as follows:

Beware! You'll die if you take a call from any of these phone numbers: 0802 311 1999 or 0802 222 5999.

"This is an absolute hoax and should be treated as such," said a representative of Nigeria's largest cellular provider at the time, VMobile, in a statement to the press.

Nokia version immediately followed

A bogus "confidential letter" apparently inspired by the Nigerian rumor began circulating around the same time, purporting to have been written by a Nokia executive who claimed that "use of our mobile phones can cause spontaneous death to the user in certain circumstances."

"The problem manifests itself when the phone is dialled from certain numbers," continued the letter, replete with misspellings and poor English grammar. "The mobile base sends out massive quantities of electromagnetic energy, whic resonates from the mobile phone's antenna. As the user answers his phone, the energy surges into his body, resulting in both coronary heart failure and brain haemorraging, generally followed by severe external bleeding and rapid death."

Nokia quickly disavowed the letter, dismissing it as a "work of fiction."