Don't Tap That Link! This Website Will Crash Your Phone

There’s a new prank floating around the Internet and there’s no word as to when — or if — it will be fixed. For those who aren’t aware, the prank involves tricking people into visiting the crashsafari.com website. Don’t do it, but if you do, make sure you visit using a computer.

In short, the website employs a bit of JavaScript code to recall the HTML5 history in an infinite loop, which eventually causes the browser to run out of memory. What happens next depends on your device.

On iPhones and iPads, visiting the site forces your phone to reboot after about 20 seconds. On Android devices, the site slows your device to a crawl and causes it to overheat until you close whichever browser you used to visit it.

On computers using Safari, the site causes the browser to crash. With any other browser, the site slows the machine to a crawl until the tab is closed or the browser is exited.

The good news is that this prank causes no damage.

If you have a friend who owns an iPhone, and you want to prank them, give me their phone number and I'll crash their iPhone.

— Erik Pacheco (@Xarnyx) June 1, 2015

Here’s the prank aspect: People have been linking to the site using URL shorteners that disguise the actual address. If you encounter a shortened URL, you might be able to check its validity using one of these URL expander services.

Unfortunately, expanders aren’t very convenient when you’re on a smartphone, plus they aren’t always effective. So for now, and until further notice, your best bet is to avoid all shortened URLs except when you absolutely trust the source linking it to you.

Have you fallen for this one yet? What are the worst social “pranks” you’ve ever seen on the Internet? Tell us about them in the comments below!

Image Credits: White iPhone by file404 via Shutterstock, Black iPhone by guteksk7 via Shutterstock