Mobile phones have been at the centre of numerous health scares, we all know that. But never before has there been widespread panic that, simply by answering one, you might be risking immediate death.

Until now, that is. In a story bizarrely reminiscent of Japanese cult horror flick The Ring, a rumour has washed through Lagos, Nigeria that, if you accept a call on your mobile from one of a group of ‘killer numbers’, you will cease to be. Apparently, experts and operators have been busily assuring the public that you can’t die from such a thing. (The capability was intended to be part of the initial GSM specification, actually. Designed as a means to dissuade users from defaulting on bills, the killer numbers were originally to be known only to a shadowy cabal of operator CEOs which some believe to be the forerunner of the GSMA’s executive board. But it was eventually dropped from the spec.)

Nonetheless, Nigerian users -; a superstitious bunch by all accounts -; remain convinced that the Grim Reaper could be just a phone call away. So far there have been no official reports of any such expirations. According to the BBC, a few years ago another rumour did the rounds in Lagos that suggested shaking hands with certain people could make your genitals fall off.

Bear that in mind at the next industry conference you go to!

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