[lfjokes] Call from bin Laden?

[Adam Shand]

Via: mikem at alaska.net
From: http://www.vnunet.com/News/1130552

Feds drop in on bin Laden prankster
By Nick Farrell [02-04-2002]

Mobile phone joke in 'bad taste'

A US joker found himself running foul of his friends and the FBI when he
registered his mobile phone caller ID under the name Osama bin Laden.

The man identified by the Feds as 'Bill', from Spokane in Washington,
contacted his mobile phone operator which processed the paperwork
without question.

An FBI spokesman said that it received complaints from Bill's friends
when the bin Laden name flashed up on their caller ID machines.

Just in case the terrorist had somehow moved to Washington they tracked
the number to Bill and paid him a visit.

While it is not illegal to pretend to be a mass murderer, the FBI agents
impressed on Bill that the joke was in poor taste.

Bill said that all he was trying to do was have a laugh and "add levity
to the serious situation" created by bin Laden and his cronies.

He added that the phone company is in the process of taking the name off
his phone at his request after he had received the same lecture from
some of his friends.