The broadcast regulator spoke out following the news that a man in South Korea has been bombarded by “endless” phone calls after his number featured in an episode of Squid Game.
Squid Game has quickly become the most talked-about show since arriving on Netflix earlier this month, with millions diving head-first into the Korean drama and the dystopian competition it focusses on.
Fans therefore won’t be surprised to hear that thousands of viewers have tried to ring the telephone number written on a business card that’s given to Seong Gi-Hun (Lee Jung-Jae) in episode one – and that the real-life owner of that phone number has received “endless” phone calls in the past few weeks.
“It has come to the point where people are reaching out day and night due to their curiosity. It drains my phone’s battery and it turns off,” the unnamed man told Money Today earlier this week.
Now Ofcom, the UK’s regulatory authority for broadcasting and telecommunications, has had its say on the story, explaining that this “wouldn’t happen” if Squid Game were a British TV project due to rules relating to the use of phone numbers in TV.
Things I didn’t expect to see: Ofcom getting in on Squid Game. pic.twitter.com/LQ8jLwfYtu
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) September 30, 2021
Sharing a news story titled, ‘Man harassed with “thousands” of calls after his number is shown on Netflix show Squid Game,’ on Instagram, Ofcom wrote that it “wouldn’t happen in the UK because of Ofcom rules”.
“When you see or hear a UK phone number in a TV or radio show, it’s from a special list of numbers we’ve set aside for this specific use,” the authority added.
Ofcom set aside thousands of telephone numbers for a number of geographic areas back in 2004 for production crews to use in TV and radio projects.
The fake numbers have disappointed TV fans over the years, including the viewers of Bodyguard back in 2018, who tried to call David Budd after he gave his number out in an episode.