KHOU.com | 11 News As SWAT officers surrounded an Alvarado home in rural Johnson County, they steeled themselves for a confrontation with what they believed to be a drug-crazed man armed with an AK-47 who had already killed his wife, taken hostages and wanted to kill police. But what they found was an innocent 60-year-old trucker.

No bloody crime scene, no assault rifle – only unanswered questions. Authorities soon realized they had encountered a disturbing and dangerous new prank that has been labeled “SWATing.” Four men and a woman have pleaded guilty in Dallas federal court to charges that they used “spoofing” technology and other phone system intrusion methods to alter their caller ID information. Over a period stretching from 2002 to late 2006, they called police in Johnson County and more than 60 cities around the country, pretending to be inside someone’s home, saying they had killed people, had taken hostages and were ready to kill more.

Authorities say that for months, the defendants called and harassed Mr. Proulx, his wife and daughter. At times, callers posed as a police officer, prodding Mr. Proulx before the real SWAT team’s arrival. “These goofballs, when they were calling us, they were threatening us, urging me to come out with a gun,” Mr. Proulx said. “They wanted me to get blown away.” Incidents are also being investigated in California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Arkansas, Washington, Oregon, Ohio, New Jersey, Alabama and Michigan. The spoof cards used by the defendants to alter their caller ID information are legal and work like a calling card. The cards, sold at www.spoofcard.com, can also be used to disguise one’s voice on the telephone. They are often used by debt collectors to fool their targets into picking up the phone, or by investigators to hide their identities to gather information. Scammers use them as well, sometimes posing as police or other authorities and extort money from victims.

I guess the old King Albert in a can joke was stale. So if you hear a knock at your door this Christmas, dive under the bed as fast as possible.