Swatting involves which of the following?

• A. Swapping out hardware components.
• B. Calling in a fake emergency to draw police to a target.
• C. Publicly shaming someone online.
• D. A prank with no legal consequences.

Answer: (B)

Swatting centers on exploiting emergency services by fabricating a crisis to force a heavy police response to a specific person or location. A caller claims a dangerous situation—often a hostage scenario or active threat—and tries to make it convincing, sometimes spoofing their identity or using information about the target to seem credible. The danger is real: responders arrive equipped to handle a life-threatening situation, which can put the target and innocent bystanders at risk, and the caller can face serious criminal charges for filing a false police report and interfering with emergency services. The other options don’t fit because they describe hardware tampering, online harassment, or a prank with no legal consequences, none of which involve triggering an emergency response to harm or intimidate someone.