Owner of ‘Squid Game’ call card number receives 4,000 calls daily, allegedly offered $850 to change it

September 27, 2021

Netflix’s “Squid Game” continues to give one mobile user an excessively large amount of attention, and she was allegedly told to “change her number” to deal with it.

Calling card: “Squid Game” is a South Korean drama about 456 debt-ridden contestants who take part in murderous survival games for a stake in a grand prize of 45.6 billion KRW ($38.7 million).

Their only means of contacting the overseers of the games to express their desire to participate in them is through a calling card with a single, rotating number printed on the back.
The show took Netflix by storm and shot to the No. 1 spot in the U.S. and 21 other countries and territories and was ranked No. 2 in 50 others.
The series’ virality created an enormous interest in those calling cards, which then led to a surge in prank calls and texts to those numbers.
A South Korean woman who never saw the show had the misfortune to be the owner of one of those numbers and told local South Korean outlet Money Today on Sept. 23 that she has been receiving “endless calls and text messages” and around “4,000 phone calls” every day, according to The Korea Herald.
A Netflix representative told Star News it and Cyron Pictures, the production company behind “Squid Game,” would look into the matter and “are working to solve it.”

Allegations: A day later, the owner told SBS News that the shows’ producers told her that they couldn’t do anything about the number since it “already went out and it’s not like we did it intentionally.”

“Honestly, we think the only option is for you to change your number,” they allegedly said, according to NME.
The production crew also reportedly offered to pay her 1 million KRW ($850) for a new number.
However, the number’s owner said she couldn’t change her number because it is linked to her small business, and she has been using it for roughly 20 years.
On Sept. 27, a representative for the hit show told Osen the team is in constant contact with the owner and are working to resolve the issue over the phone and with “face-to-face meetings.”

Featured Image via SBS News (left), Netflix (right)

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