A prank call is a form of practical joke committed over the telephone . As with all practical jokes , there is a thin line between humor and harassment , and the person receiving the call is not likely to find it funny . Prank calls range from annoying hang - ups to false calls to emergency services or bomb threats . Prank calls that waste the time of emergency services are a criminal offense in most countries . One such hoax call occurred in Perth , Australia , on New Year ’ s Eve 2002 , when a drunken teenager called the new anti - terrorist hotline to report a bomb threat against the New Year ' s Eve Fireworks celebration . The threat was taken seriously , and the celebrations were about to be canceled , when police discovered that no such threat existed . The teen was arrested for deliberate false reporting . Even very prominent people have fallen victim to prank callers , as for example Queen Elizabeth II , who was fooled by Canadian DJ Pierre Brassard posing as Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien , asking her to record a speech in support of Canadian unity ahead of the 1995 Quebec referendum . Two other particularly famous examples of prank calls were made by the Miami - based radio station Radio El Zol . In one they telephoned Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and spoke to him , pretending to be Cuban president Fidel Castro . They later repeated the prank , except that they called Castro and pretended to be Chávez . Castro reacted to the prank by calling them bastards . prank ( phone ) call 장난 전화 practical joke 짓궂 은 장난 / 몹쓸 장난 thin line 약간 의 / 미세 한 차이 harassment 희롱 / 괴롭힘 emergency services 응급 / 비상 서비스 criminal offense 형사 상 의 범행 deliberate false reporting 계획 적 허위 보 고