A new challenge on social media, primarily WhatsApp is surfacing and it is popularly known as the Momo game or Momo Challenge. It is similar to “Blue Whale Challenge” that surfaced a few months back. This “Momo game” lures suicidal teens to complete a set of challenges which ultimately leads to the death of those youngsters. Until now at least one death has been associated to this creepy challenge that, when contacted on WhatsApp sends eerie pictures and threats.
How Momo Starts?
The Momo game ordinarily starts when individuals text and/or add a contact related to Momo. Momo is an unnerving picture of a lady that is circling various social media platforms and welcomes individuals to text her on WhatsApp. According to Fox News, When contacted on WhatsApp, Momo threatens to show up at night or curse individuals who don’t reply to her creepy texts.
Individuals who, out of fear or intrigue reply to the ‘Momo’ profile are sent a number of photographs that are very grotesque and disturbing. As mentioned earlier, the game or challenge then gives “tasks” for the users to complete in order to keep Momo and her curses away from them. Like the “blue whale” challenge, the Momo game then gains personal information about the individuals and then push people into completing these “tasks” or “objectives” to keep that information private. According to sources, the “challenges” given by Momo are actually ventures toward carrying out suicide, for example, sending a photograph of someone tying a sheet around their throat.
How does Momo convince teenagers to commit suicide? Well, At times individuals are forced to harm themselves to prevent spreading of personal information acquired by the Momo-associated profile and sometimes Momo sends graphic photographs of a dead person and threaten the family or friends of the users if they don’t respond.
These texts are fiercely threatening and convincing to the young adolescents in order to make them feel they must respond or their closed ones might be in actual danger.
Momo Profile Model
The WhatsApp display picture of profiles associated with Momo is an image of the peculiar Bird-woman model made by Link factory, a famous special effects company located in Japan. It has been recorded that Link Factory is not in the slightest associated with the “Momo challenge”. The disturbing profile image is of a woman with protruding eyes with a creepy grin on her face. The sculpture itself was displayed in an art gallery in Ginza, Tokyo and gained attention when Reddit user AlmightySosa00 uploaded the popular cropped image to the subreddit r/creepy. On 11th of July Youtuber ReignBot posted a video talking about the “Momo game” and the urban legend behind it. The video mentioned that it’s difficult to tie Momo to one individual number and users trying to contact multiple associated numbers didn’t often get a response and even if they did, it would be insults and threats about revealing personal information.
The origin of this “game” cannot be pinpointed yet. Mexican police have stated that the “game” originated in a Facebook group. The Momo-profile has been particularly active in Spanish-speaking nations and several copycat accounts have also been found. An application by the same name is also now active.
A WhatsApp representative disclosed to Fox News that individuals should immediately block phone numbers associated with Momo.
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