Rihanna has become the latest celebrity victim of 'swatting', the prank craze sweeping LA in the last few months. What is 'swatting', you ask? Basically it's a prank call, except it's exceptionally stupid because you ring the police and waste a lot of peoples time and money sending SWAT teams to celebrity homes. And before you go thinking up your own ideas for pulling it off here, stop, because you will be arrested.
Police were called to RiRi's Pacific Palisades home on Thursday after the Los Angeles Police Department received a call claiming two armed men were inside the house and someone had been shot, according to TMZ.
The incident at Rihanna's home comes just one day after more than a dozen police cars and two helicopters swarmed Diddy's Los Angeles home after they received a hoax phone-call also informing them that someone had been shot inside the property. Comedian and actor Steve Carell's home was also secured as it is located next door to Diddy's.
Upon searching the mansion, officers found no evidence of criminal activity or a shooter. A law enforcement source said they are taking the incident very seriously and intend to prosecute the perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law once they are tracked down.
The rapper is the latest in a number of celebrities to fall victim to a 'swatting' prank, following a similar incident at Paris Hilton's home last week and Tom Cruise's Beverly Hills home in January when a prank caller claimed an armed robbery was taking place, but officers found no crime had been committed.
A 12-year-old child also previously targeted Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber's homes in a series of elaborate prank burglaries.
Other victims have included Miley Cyrus' family, Chris Brown and the Kardashian family, who were left furious after heavily armed officers showed up at their door in Calabasas, California, in January after a hoax caller claimed a shooter was in the house and they heard a gun being fired.