Facepalm: A woman has been arrested and charged for using AI to fake a home invasion. Police in Montgomery County, Maryland, responded to an emergency call about an apparent break-in at a North Bethesda house earlier this month, but the homeowner has been charged with making false statements to police.
According to the police report, 27-year-old Moesha Gardener texted her husband a photo on October 8 that showed an unknown man inside their house. He was lying on the couch, covered by a blanket. The wife claimed he had forced his way inside after she answered the door.
The husband called 911 and reported the incident to the police, believing it was a break-in. Eight cruisers rushed to the scene at high speed, likely concerned for the woman's safety.
When they reached the house, police and the husband found the woman sitting alone on the couch, safe and unharmed. There was also a tripod with a phone attached to it pointing at the door. She admitted that the whole thing was a prank she'd seen on TikTok, and that the image of the intruder was AI-generated.
@6abcactionnews Police issued a warning about a viral social media trend involving artificial intelligence. The trend is called the "AI homeless man prank."
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Court documents say the husband was visibly emotional, which is likely an understatement. He had apparently driven home at high speeds, running through intersections, and broke traffic laws because he thought his wife was in danger. She "nonchalantly" told the husband that she didn't expect him to respond so seriously.
Moesha Gardener was arrested and charged with making a false statement concerning an emergency or crime and providing a false statement to a state official. She was later released on a $10,000 bond.
The police issued a statement reminding people that making calls to 911 to report a false crime is illegal. It notes that swatting calls, in which people falsely report serious crimes against someone in the hope of eliciting an armed response, waste valuable emergency resources, put lives at risk, and carry serious legal consequences. It's estimated that around 1,000 swatting calls take place in the US each year.
The incident is yet another reminder that imitating a TikTok trend rarely ends well, and just because AI can convincingly create a lot of things, it doesn't mean we should create them.
TikTok-inspired AI home-invasion prank sparks massive police response, leading to woman's arrest
