The Best & Most Hilarious Prank Call Ideas

Looking for a fun way to pass the time? Try prank calling! Prank calls are a silly way to fool your loved ones and have a good life. Check out these popular prank call ideas for friends, family, partners, kids, and more!

Disclaimer: Prank call with caution! Never use a prank call to harass or bully others. Prank calls are illegal in some areas, so check your local laws before dialing.

Section 1 of 6:

Prank Call Ideas for Friends

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“You won a prize!” Prank call a friend to let them know they “won” tickets, the lottery, or a big ole prize. Distort your voice and hide your number so they don’t know it’s you. Then, say you’re from a local radio station and tell them they won a big giveaway. Tell them they must answer a riddle to win, and no matter how they answer, you know they’ll lose.^{[1]
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- Stick with a nearly impossible question like, “Do cows drink chocolate milk?” or “What came first, the chicken or the egg?”
- Bonus points if you let them think they got tickets to an anticipated event!
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“But you called me?” Call up your bestie and ask who you’re speaking to. Then, when they ask why you called, say, “Uh, I don’t know. You called me.” Keep the rouse going for as long as you’d like!

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Ring up a friend and pretend they’re the front desk of a fancy hotel. Let them know you’re out of toilet paper (or some other toiletry) and need it ASAP.
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“This is the phone company.” Pretend you’re a mobile operator for your friend’s phone company. Give them a ring and say you’re calling to conduct a few tests to ensure they’re getting the best out of their service. Ask them to repeat a series of silly phrases to automate their service.
- The sillier the phrases, the better! Try “My name is [their name], and I enjoy pizza” and “Koala bears are cuddly.”
This prank is super easy and hilarious! Call or FaceTime your friend. When they answer, say, “Oh, can I call you back? I’m really busy,” and hang up right away.
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“You have a delivery.” Disguise your number and voice and give your bestie a call. When they answer, tell them you’re a delivery service and need them to sign for a package at the door. Give a vague description of what the package is—the more ridiculous, the better!
- The package may be 100 balloon cannons, 1,000 rubber ducks, or 50 talking cacti.
Give your friend a call, and when they answer, say, “Whoops! Sorry. Must have dialed the wrong number.” Then, hang up to leave them totally confused.
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“I’m here to pick you up.” Ring up your friend and tell them you’re outside their place ready to pick them up (even though you really aren’t). They’ll be so confused because you don’t have plans to hang out! Keep the ruse going and hear them scrambling to get ready.
Call up a friend and say, “I know you did it.” Don’t give any details. They’ll be so confused, asking, “Did what?” Be extremely vague in your responses to keep them guessing. They’ll either freak out from confusion or actually confess to something!
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“Creepy caller.” Disguise your phone number and call up a good friend. When they answer, don’t say a word. Instead, breathe heavily into the phone. They’ll be so spooked!
Pretend your friend is a suspect for murder with this goofy prank call! Simply disguise your number and call up a pal. Morph your voice and tell them they’re under investigation in a homicide and need to come in for questioning. When they ask what for, say very seriously, “For killing a spider.”

Section 2 of 6:

Prank Call Ideas for Your Partner

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“I know what you did.” Call up your boyfriend or girlfriend as you normally would. Then, when they answer, start reciting the lines of Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Insert the lyrics into the conversation and keep going until they recognize the song.
- Start with the title lyric at the top of the chorus for the best results: “I know what you did last summer.”
- This song accuses someone of cheating or keeping a secret, so be careful!
- This prank can also be done in person by just saying, “I know what you did.”^{[2]
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“Time to eat!” Give your partner a quick call, pretend to be a delivery service, and say their pizza or food order has been delivered. They’ll be so confused because they really didn’t order anything! For the best results, make sure your number and voice is disguised.
- Amp up this prank call by actually leaving a sweet package on their doorstep.
Make your boyfriend or girlfriend go a bit crazy with this goofy prank! Simply call them and ask, “Why did you hang up on me?” Keep the rouse going, pretending you’re upset with them for hanging up on a phone call they never had.
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“Where’s my pizza?” Hide your number and call up your significant other. Pretend they’re a pizza place, and tell them you ordered your pizza an hour ago, and it still hasn’t arrived. Keep being an angry customer to see how they react!
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“I’m in prison.” This prank call requires a bit of a setup, but we promise it’s worth it! On another device, type “Hello, this is a call from [name of your local jail] from inmate [your name]. If you wish to take this call, press one.” When your partner answers, play the text into your phone. If they press one, “answer” the call and pretend you’ve been arrested and are calling from jail. Keep the rouse going for as long as you’d like!^{[3]
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- Think of a reason why you would be in prison before you make the call—the sillier but more believable the story, the better.
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“It’s a date!” Give your partner a call and tell them you can’t wait for date night. Throw in a few details about what you’re planning to wear, what time you’ll be ready to be pick up, and so forth. The catch is, there is no date!
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“Who is this?” Wait until your boyfriend or girlfriend calls you. Then, when they do, answer the phone by saying, “Who’s this?” They’ll likely exclaim that it’s your partner. Keep pretending like you don’t know who they are for this reverse prank call.
Hide your number and call up your partner. When they answer the phone, pretend like you’re their ex. Tell them you still love them and want to be with them until the end of time! This is a great way to prank your significant other while also checking their loyalty.

Section 3 of 6:

Prank Call Ideas for Family

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Hide your caller ID from a family member, ring them up, and then announce, “It’s been so long, [their name]! How are you? Long time no chat!” Bring up important things in their life to make them really confused. When they ask who you are, give a vague response or name you know they don’t have a friend of. They’ll be spinning in circles, trying to figure out who you are!
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“You live in a haunted house.” Give a family member who lives in an older house a call. Disguise your voice and phone number and let them know that you were the previous homeowner and want them to know its secrets. Tell them the house is haunted and craft up a story of a spooky ghost.
- This prank is perfect for someone who lives in an older home or just moved in.
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“Is the item still available?” This prank call requires a little help from a friend. Pretend a family member listed a random item for sale online (a vacuum, desk, computer, foot massager, etc.). Then, call them up and ask them if it’s still available. When they say “no,” give your thanks and hang up. Now, have a friend call them and ask for the same item.
- Take the prank even further by pretending you want to buy something super embarrassing they’re selling online.
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“Do you know this song?” You don’t need to disguise your phone number for this prank! Call up a beloved family member for a regular chat. Then, recite the lyrics of a popular song by speaking the lyrics normally. Keep going until they catch on to the prank or you reach the end of the song.^{[4]
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- Go with any song you’d like! We’d suggest “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Basket Case” by Green Day, and “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry.
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“You’ve been selected for a random survey!” Call up a loved one with a disguised number and let them know they’ve been selected for a random survey. If they complete the questions, they’ll win a prize. Then, ask them a series of ridiculous questions until they figure out the prank.
- You might ask questions like, “When’s the last time you purchased bananas?” and “Who was the last person you texted?”
- Make the questions more and more ridiculous as you go.
- Theme your questions around a certain product or service to make your prank more believable.

Section 4 of 6:

Prank Call Ideas for Businesses

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Call up a random restaurant or business, pretend you work there, and tell them you quit—it’s that easy! Try seeing how far you can get a conversation going before you inevitably say, “I quit.”^{[5]
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“Can I reserve a shopping cart?” Give a call to your local grocery or department store. When they answer, pretend to be a customer interested in reserving a shopping cart for your visit at a specific time. Keep up the ruse even when the employee acts confused for even more fun!^{[6]
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This prank can be pulled on any fast food restaurant. All you have to do is call up McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, or another favorite joint, and ask, “Can I reserve a table?”^{[7]
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“Two callers.” Call two restaurants at once to cleverly prank someone without having to say a word. Simply call up two restaurants on two different phones. Hold the phones up to each other and let the receivers on both ends talk to each other.^{[8]
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- Call the same style restaurant for the best results. For example, you might call two Chinese restaurants or two McDonald’s.
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“I have a complaint.” Give a call to any food delivery app service (DoorDash, Uber Eats, etc.) Tell them you have a complaint for them. When they ask why, say you haven’t received an order you made over 2 hours ago. Give fake information when asked for the order number and what was in the order.^{[9]
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- The more ridiculous your fake order, the better. Make up silly names like bread jelly, mushroom ribs, or peanut corn.

Section 5 of 6:

Prank Call Ideas for Kids

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“I must have the wrong number.” This prank call is super easy and fun! Call up a special kid in your life—no need to disguise your number or voice. When they answer the phone, ask them questions about themselves, and then say, “Whoops! Well, I must have the wrong number.”
- Try saying something like, “Does a unicorn live with you? I was told I could talk to her,” or “I was really hoping to talk to the smartest kid in the world, but if you’re not them, I must have called the wrong number.”
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“Silence.” Call up a kid you know, and when they answer, stay absolutely silent. See how they react! Maybe they’ll think you butt-dialed them and hang up, or perhaps they’ll shout into the phone. The fun is in not knowing!^{[10]
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“Puns for days!” This prank call is perfect for pranking kids or if you’re a kid! Simply call a number, and when they answer, tell them a pun or riddle. Here are some of our favorites:^{[11]
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- Prankster: “Is your refrigerator running?”
  Target: “Um, yeah.”
  Prankster: “Then you better go catch it!”
- Prankster: “Is there a John there?”
  Target: “No. Nobody named John here.”
  Prankster: “Where do you go then? The sink?”

Section 6 of 6:

How to Make a Successful Prank Call

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Dial *67 to make your call anonymous. In the United States, dialing *67 before a phone number blocks your caller ID. This means that your name won’t pop up when you make your call, making your call anonymous.^{[12]
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- Keep in mind that this trick may not work on all phone numbers and can depend on where you’re calling from.
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Practice your prank call ahead of time. Before you dial the prank suspect’s number, practice what you’ll say. Think about how you might react to their response—will you hang up right away or keep the joke going? Having a game plan can help your prank be that much more successful.^{[13]
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- If you’re making a prank call with friends, make sure everyone’s on the same page for added fun.
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Disguise your voice. If you’re pranking someone you know, they’ll likely recognize your voice over the phone. So, try putting on a fake voice or using a voice distortion app to disguise your true identity.
- Ask a friend to be the “talker” of the prank! You can come up with the idea, and they can be the voice behind the call.
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Use a prank calling app for extra help. New to making prank calls? Ease your nerves with a prank calling app that does all the logistic work for you. These apps can help block your caller ID, distort your voice, and give you prank ideas. Check out these apps:
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Follow the law. Prank calls can be illegal in certain states if you harass or impersonate someone. Reporting false crimes, bullying, disorderly conduct, hate speech, impersonating the police, and wiretapping (recording a call) could give you jail time, even if they’re done over a prank call. Check your local laws before making a prank call, and ensure your prank doesn’t violate any rules.^{[14]
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- The police can still track your number even if you dial *67.^{[15]
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Tips

Is someone prank calling you repeatedly? If you’re being harassed by prank calls, contact the police to stop the caller.

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