Social media has recently seen the rise of a new trend, in which some users employ AI-generated images of a homeless man to trick friends or family into believing that a stranger has broken into their home.

Hundreds of videos circulating on platforms like TikTok under hashtags such as #HomelessManPrank have gone viral, garnering millions of views.

In these clips, the “intruder” appears at the door, in the kitchen, or lying on a bed, often accompanied by claims that he asked to come in or requested food.

Police departments in U.S. states including Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin have warned that these pranks are not harmless jokes, adding that they can cause panic, waste public resources, and even put people’s safety at risk.

In multiple cases, officers responded to emergency calls, only to find that the reported intrusions were fake.

Captain John Burke of the Salem Police Department in Massachusetts said: “There are so many scenarios that could go wrong. If a worried family member calls to report an intruder with a weapon, armed officers dispatched to the scene could confront an unaware house occupant or neighbor, creating a potentially dangerous situation.