'Squid Game': Netflix Edits Scenes With Phone Number To Address Prank Calls Issue

Netflix is editing scenes showing a phone number in the popular thriller series 'Squid Game' after a South Korean woman complained of receiving a barrage of phone calls from viewers of the show.

“This is a number that I’ve been using for more than 10 years, so I’m quite taken aback. There are more than 4,000 numbers that I’ve had to delete from my phone,” a businesswoman told the South Korean newspaper Money Today, as per The Guardian.

Kim Gil-young, who runs a dessert shop in Seongju, told CNN that she is now taking medicines for acute stress disorder after her number was spammed by prank callers ever since the show was released in mid-September.

“At first I didn’t know why, but my friend told me that my number came out in Squid Game and that’s when I realized,” she told The Guardian.

Kim added that she had to deal with several pranksters who called her up in the middle of the night, telling her they want to be a part of the “Squid Game” before hanging up.

At one point, she even received a text message from a prankster who called her a "b--ch."

The South Korean hit drama became Netflix’s most popular series in 90 countries after its launch on Sept. 17 and could become the streamer’s most-watched series ever.

The nine-episode series tells the story of cash-strapped individuals who agree to compete in children's games in exchange for a hefty sum, involving a deadly twist.

In a winner-takes-all style, only one contestant who wins takes home the cash prize of $40 million. Losers of the game are killed by the masked guards in violent ways.

The contestants are recruited by a mysterious man (played by Gong Yoo) who seems to have a knack for finding bankrupt individuals willing to do literally anything to lift their economic status. The mysterious man hands out business cards to willing players of the games.

The recruits are instructed to call the phone number written on the back of these business cards to express their interest in the games.

While film and television makers usually conjure fake numbers for such instances, the South Korean series mistakenly included a real phone number on the show.

Initially, Netflix’s production crew reportedly told the businesswoman to change her phone number as there was nothing they could do about it since the show is already live on the streaming platform.

After receiving backlash, Netflix agreed to make necessary edits to the scenes with the phone number after urging fans of the show to stop making prank calls and sending messages.

“Together with the production company, we are working to resolve this matter, including editing scenes with phone numbers where necessary,” the company said in a statement cited by The Guardian.