Overview

• The trend uses photorealistic AI images of an unhoused-looking man placed inside private homes to trick recipients, with thousands of posts and millions of interactions across TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.
• Police in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland say they have investigated false reports tied to the prank, with Dorset and Poole forces and Ireland’s Gardaí noting emergency responses to incidents later deemed hoaxes.
• Round Rock, Texas police reported two recent home-invasion calls linked to the prank, and Oak Harbor, Washington investigated a fabricated image alleging a homeless person on a school campus.
• Ohio’s Brown County Sheriff’s Office said two juveniles were criminally charged in connection with recent incidents, citing existing laws against false reports.
• Platform and AI responses vary: TikTok labeled flagged videos as AI-generated, OpenAI’s ChatGPT declined to create such images when tested, while Google’s Gemini produced one, highlighting inconsistent safeguards.