Is Prank Calling Illegal in Michigan? Stalking, Swatting, Penalties

Yes, prank calling is illegal in Michigan when the caller acts with intent to harass, threaten, frighten, or annoy the person on the other end. The baseline offense sits in MCL 750.540e, a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.¹ From there, the consequences climb quickly. Repeat calls can become stalking. A fake 911 call can become a felony with years of prison time. And a spoofed number can pull federal law into the picture.

The Statute Most Prank Callers Hit First

MCL 750.540e makes it a crime to use any telecommunications service with the intent to terrorize, frighten, threaten, harass, or annoy another person. Three kinds of behavior come up most often:

The word “maliciously” is doing real work in this statute. A single call to a friend that lands badly probably won’t draw a charge. The line moves once the caller’s purpose is to scare, intimidate, or disrupt. Prosecutors focus on what the caller intended when they dialed, not just what came out of their mouth.

The law is not limited to phone calls in the old-fashioned sense. MCL 750.540e uses the “telecommunications service” and “telecommunications device” definitions from MCL 750.540c, which reach text messages, internet-based calls, and mobile communications.² Switching to a messaging app or a VoIP service doesn’t put you outside the statute.

A conviction is a misdemeanor: up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.¹

When Repeated Calls Become Stalking

Keep pranking the same person and the charge shifts. MCL 750.411h defines stalking as a willful course of conduct involving repeated harassment that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, or threatened.³ A “course of conduct” is two or more separate acts showing continuity of purpose. A pattern of calls over days or weeks fits, even if any single call sounds harmless on its own.

The statute turns on “unconsented contact,” which includes communication after the recipient has said to stop. Phone calls are on the statutory list.³ The first call might be brushed off. Once the person says “don’t call me again” and the calls keep coming, every later call is evidence of stalking. The standard is objective: whether a reasonable person in the recipient’s position would feel harassed.

A first stalking conviction is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.³

Aggravated Stalking

MCL 750.411i bumps the charge to a felony in four situations:

The caller keeps up the harassment while subject to a restraining order or personal protection order.
The course of conduct includes a credible threat against the victim, their family, or someone in their household.
The caller is already on probation, parole, or pretrial release and continues the behavior.
The caller has a prior stalking or aggravated stalking conviction.⁴

Aggravated stalking carries up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.⁴

Fake 911 Calls and Swatting

Calling 911 with a made-up emergency is the fastest way to turn a prank into a felony. MCL 750.411a prohibits intentionally making a false report of a crime or emergency to any peace officer, police agency, 911 operator, or other authorized government employee.⁵ The penalty ladder is steep:

False report of a misdemeanor: misdemeanor, up to 93 days in jail, up to a $500 fine.
False report of a felony: felony, up to 4 years in prison, up to a $2,000 fine.
Response causes physical injury: felony, up to 5 years in prison, up to a $20,000 fine.
Response causes serious bodily impairment: felony, up to 10 years in prison, up to a $25,000 fine.
Response causes death: felony, up to 15 years in prison, mandatory minimum fine of $25,000 and a maximum of $50,000.⁵

The same tiers apply to false reports of medical or other emergencies like fires. A court can also order restitution covering the full cost of the emergency response—police, fire, and medical.⁵

This is the statute behind “swatting” cases, where someone tricks emergency services into sending an armed response to another person’s home. If a fabricated call sends officers to a house and someone gets hurt, the caller is looking at years in prison, not a slap on the wrist.

Spoofed Numbers and Out-of-State Calls

Hiding behind a fake caller ID pulls federal law into the picture. Under 47 U.S.C. § 227(e), transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with intent to defraud or cause harm is illegal, with civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation and willful violations exposed to criminal fines up to $10,000 per offense as well.⁶

Federal law also directly criminalizes harassing calls that cross state lines. Under 47 U.S.C. § 223, it is a federal crime to use a telecommunications device in interstate communications to make anonymous calls with intent to harass, to repeatedly ring someone’s phone to disturb them, or to make repeated calls solely to harass. The penalty is up to two years in federal prison, a fine, or both.⁷ A prank caller in Michigan targeting someone in another state can face federal charges on top of any Michigan prosecution.

If You’re the One Getting the Calls

A person receiving repeated prank calls can petition the family division of circuit court for a personal protection order. Under MCL 600.2950, a PPO is available when the petitioner and the caller have a domestic or dating relationship and the conduct meets the stalking definitions in MCL 750.411h or 750.411i. The court cannot refuse an order just because there is no police report, medical record, or visible injury, and it can issue an emergency ex parte order without notifying the caller first when waiting would risk immediate harm.⁸

A PPO does more than tell the caller to stop. Once one is in place, any further contact automatically kicks the conduct up to aggravated stalking under MCL 750.411i.⁴

Thinking about recording the calls? Be careful. MCL 750.539d makes it a felony to use a recording device in a private setting without the consent of the person being recorded, punishable by up to two years in prison and a $2,000 fine for a first offense.⁹ Michigan is generally treated as an all-party consent state. Talk to an attorney before recording so your evidence doesn’t become its own legal problem.

Minors and Parents

Teenagers make a lot of prank calls, and Michigan does not give them a pass. The same statutes apply, prosecuted through the juvenile division of circuit court. Where the minor is 14 or older and the conduct amounts to a felony, such as aggravated stalking or a false emergency report, the case can potentially be handled in adult court depending on the circumstances.

Parents have skin in the game too. Under MCL 600.2913, parents of an unemancipated minor living at home can be held civilly liable up to $2,500 when the child maliciously or willfully causes property damage or bodily harm.¹⁰ That cap covers civil claims. Restitution ordered in a criminal case is separate, so if a teen’s false 911 call triggers a full emergency response, the court can order the family to pay the actual cost with no $2,500 ceiling.

What a Conviction Follows You With

The statutory penalty is only part of what a conviction costs. A record of telephone harassment or stalking can affect jobs, housing, and professional licensing for years.

Michigan treats stalking as both an “assaultive offense” and a “serious misdemeanor.” Expungement is possible, but the wait is at least five years from sentencing, completion of probation, discharge from parole, or the end of any prison term, whichever comes last. Michigan also limits a person to no more than two expungements of assaultive crime convictions in a lifetime.¹¹

Noncitizens carry an extra risk. A stalking conviction, especially at the felony level, may be treated as a crime involving moral turpitude under federal immigration law, which can trigger deportation. Even a misdemeanor stalking conviction can complicate visa renewals and green card applications.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.540e – Malicious Use of Service Provided by Telecommunications Service Provider
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.540c – Definitions
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.411h – Stalking
4
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.411i – Aggravated Stalking
5
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.411a – False Report of Crime or Report of Medical or Other Emergency
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 U.S. Code 227 – Restrictions on Use of Telephone Equipment
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 USC 223 – Obscene or Harassing Telephone Calls
8
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 600.2950 – Personal Protection Orders
9
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.539d – Installation or Use of Device for Observing, Recording, Transmitting, or Photographing Events in Private Place
10
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 600.2913 – Parental Liability
11
Michigan Attorney General. Expungement Assistance