Why you shouldn't try the 108 prank with Siri

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A new prank involving Siri is making the rounds on social media, but local authorities warn that it could put people in danger.

Tweets, videos and Facebook posts have surfaced daring iPhone users to tell Siri, the phone's voice-activated assistant, the command "108." Different variations of the prank promise that Siri will tell a story or make the user laugh, but the end result is anything but funny.

Across the world, different countries have varying equivalents of the United States' 911 system of calling local emergency services -- in certain parts of India, that phone number is 108.

Even in the United States, asking Siri to dial 108 will place a call to local emergency services, just as if the user had dialed 911.

As the Harris County Sheriff's Office noted in a recent Facebook post, an influx of calls to 911 can tie up the lines, preventing users with legitimate emergencies from reaching first responders.

It is illegal in many states to place prank 911 calls; in Texas, violators could be charged with a class B misdemeanor.

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