Swatting is a type of harassment that involves trying to trick police into sending a heavily armed raid to someone’s home — often a SWAT team — when no actual crime is in progress, according to the FBI. Often the caller is falsely reporting a serious violent crime such as a home invasion, a hostage situation or a shooting. The harasser making the call will often use a fake caller ID, or online calling or phone spoofing software to hide their location or make it appear the emergency call is coming from the victim’s phone.

https://time.com/6551369/swatting-hoax-mtg-maine-secretary-state/