Ten TV stations aired false alerts about a zombie invasion in February 2013. Hackers entered the Emergency Alert System through the “back door” of the security system and sent the message to viewers in Montana, Michigan, California, Utah, and New Mexico. Each incident included a TV crawl and a mechanically altered voice warning of “zombies attacking the living.” The FBI and FTC are investigating the breach.

Police in Sussex, Great Britain, condemned a hoax text message warning people of abductions in supermarkets. The text was sent to more than 100 people and claimed that 11 attempted abductions had occurred at three market areas. The police asked the public not to redistribute the text.