Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

March 11, 2009

A Florida woman is understandably upset after someone posted a message on Xbox Live advertising that her two-year-old daughter was for sale - and included her home phone number. The offer included free shipping.

As reported by the Charlotte Sun, Christa Manos of Punta Gorda began receiving angry phone calls from Xbox Live users on Saturday night.:

The [first caller] was furious Manos would consider putting a price tag on her child.

At first, it sounded like a prank. But the phone kept ringing, with more and more angry voices from across the United States. Some just cursed at Manos. Others called her a bad mother. She didn't know what they were talking about.

"By the 18th or 19th call, I knew something wasn't right," Manos said.

The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office is investigating.
Buzz It

Comments

Re: Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

Submitted by chadachada321 on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 21:18.

From a troll standpoint, this is freaking hilarious. I mean, come on, if I wanted to pull a prank, this is definitely a fantastic one.

However, I would never do something like this unprovoked, and if this happened to me I would be incredibly pissed. I'm wondering about the specifics of this though, like where it was said and such.

-If an apple a day keeps the doctor away....what happens when a doctor eats an apple?-

-Optimum est pati quod emendare non possis-It is best to endure what you cannot change-

Re: Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

Submitted by Kojiro on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 16:44.

The idiots on Xbox Live believed these messages?  I would have thought that the members of Live, being a generally younger crowd, would be more savy to bullshit like this. 

(Don't get me wrong, I said "savy," not "mature.")

Re: Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

Submitted by MonkeyPeaches on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 16:28.

I don't see how it could get on xbox live from craigslist since you the 360 doesn't have an internet browser.

Re: Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

Submitted by strathmeyer on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 13:29.

Can someone tell us how to post things on Xbox Live??? And how to read things people have posted???

Re: Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

Submitted by catboy_j on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 12:51.

I am amused that so many people insist xbox live isn't that bad, but it makes the news so often lol. And not for saving children.

Re: Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

Submitted by JC on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 06:51.

I'm amazed it took her 18 calls for her to register it as "wasn't right" ....

At most, I'd expect most people to be worried by the 3rd~5th one...

Poor woman though, especially with the way Florida is right now with Caylee Anthony case; can only imagine how quickly that can escalate.

I wish the article would clarify where the ad was, but I'm guessing craiglist with a reference to the xboxlive gamertag.

Re: Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

Submitted by E. Zachary Knight on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 07:17.

The article says it originated on XBox Live. Where I don't know. Had it been posted on Craigslist I am sure they would have mentioned it.

E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma

E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary

Re: Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

Submitted by JC on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 09:06.

The thing is, how was this information modified? I think it is a bit difficult to get into another's Gamertag without leaving a glaring record for MS to find the culprit or whatever. Meh, it is just very odd to see this.

Re: Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

Submitted by MechaTama31 on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 10:13.

Who says it was her gamertag?  If somebody knows your phone number and your child's name, they can pull a prank like this using any gamertag they like.  It's not like anybody else on Live is going to know that the gamertag and phone number don't match up.

Re: Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

Submitted by CyberSkull on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 06:34.

So where was the message posted? On a user profile or in the forums? Either case the message should be tied to a user account.

Re: Nasty Prank: Woman's Child Offered for Sale on Xbox Live

Submitted by Seanovan on Thu, 03/12/2009 - 03:38.

My guess is that it started on xbox live(voice chat) and was spread through a privately run forum for xbox fans.

Forgot your password?
Username :
Password :

Shout box

You're not permitted to post shouts.
Uncharted NES: http://m.kotaku.com/5883236/get-a-3ds-for-just-150-at-gamestop02/08/2012 - 11:00pm
Andrew Eisen: Not that it matters, I am just needling you after all.02/08/2012 - 10:34pm
Andrew Eisen: To be fair, I don't think that's what he was facepalming and if he was, that would still be three. MP's would make it four, but that happened after the fact. The rest of the posts are about us commenting on his repeated misuse, not the misuse itself.02/08/2012 - 10:34pm
DorthLous: To be fair, I did count ddrfr33k post as well, and, well, this dead horse would now be at 7 posts ^^02/08/2012 - 10:10pm
MaskedPixelante: BREAKING: Valve is the best production team this side of Studio B. See, I can do it too.02/08/2012 - 9:45pm
Andrew Eisen: Four to five? Really? That doesn’t sound right. Wait a moment, let me count... Nope, it was just one. And if you meant four to five between us, there's still only two.02/08/2012 - 9:03pm
DorthLous: And, you guys, always take about 4-5 posts to explain it in the shoutbox each time. It's like people complaining about reposts or "First!" posters. Just ignore the annoying part, guys.02/08/2012 - 8:51pm
RedMage: I do want to point out how sad it is that Andrew has had to point this out to you at least three times by my knowledge, Uncharted.02/08/2012 - 7:31pm
Andrew Eisen: If you have to ask, maybe you should consider breaking your annoying habit of prefixing nearly every story you link to with an all caps "breaking" or "urgent." Especially when it's only ever been appropriate twice.02/08/2012 - 5:37pm
Uncharted NES: For the report or the breaking?02/08/2012 - 5:10pm
ddrfr33k: @Uncharted: that's just facepalm-worthy. ISHYGDDT...02/08/2012 - 2:02pm
Uncharted NES: BREAKING: UK Report Blames The Internet For Terrorism, Says ISPs Should Take Down Content- http://tinyurl.com/86syhe202/08/2012 - 10:59am
lomdr: Then again, no site and publisher wants a repeat of KaneandLynchGate02/08/2012 - 6:39am
ZippyDSMlee: oh dear....... then again US rags give the most medicore crap 8s and 9s like crazy....02/07/2012 - 11:18pm
Andrew Eisen: 40 is a perfect score and less than 20 games have ever received that distinction.02/07/2012 - 10:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: I hope thats a low score >>02/07/2012 - 10:11pm
Andrew Eisen: My God. Famitsu gave New Love Plus a 38.02/07/2012 - 10:02pm
ZippyDSMlee: Damn Dungeon sige 3 is pretty crappy....02/07/2012 - 8:19pm
Andrew Eisen: Far as I can tell, it's not really censored, it's just being released in two versions: explicit and less explicit.02/07/2012 - 6:31pm
Cheater87: Lollipop chainsaw censored in Japan. http://www.destructoid.com/lollipop-chainsaw-will-be-censored-in-japan-221261.phtml02/07/2012 - 6:25pm
All shouts

Be Heard - Contact Your Politician