#Massachusetts COVID-19 compliance hotline flooded with crank calls

Of more than 900 reports, dozens were bogus.
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A Massachusetts hotline set up to enforce coronavirus safety guidelines instead received profanity, fake reports and porn from residents fed up with the rules — similar to what happened in April when New York City launched a similar effort.

It didn’t take long for things to go downhill for Gov. Charlie Baker’s compliance hotline, according to MassLive.com.

In just a matter of hours, there was a picture of a penis from an account dubbed, “Good German,” missives slamming the hotline as a “rat line,” complaints about “unmasked dogs” and gripes about Baker’s lack of a mask during news conferences, the outlet reported.

Overall, the bogus messages amounted to dozens out of more than 900 reports.

A similar effort in the five boroughs earlier this year saw an influx of crank complaints including “d–k pics,” people flipping the bird, photos of extended middle fingers and Mayor Bill de Blasio dropping the Staten Island groundhog, along with news coverage of him going to the gym.

One user sent the message, “We will fight this tyrannical overreach!” to the service and got an automated message that in part said, “Hello, and thank you for texting NYC311.”