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Mum's warning after kids app death threats

A mum is warning parents to be vigilant when using the app store, after downloading what she thought was a prank call app for kids.

When Lucinda Short, 25, opened the Call Blaze and the Monster Machines 2018 app and listened to the recorded message, she was horrified to hear a 'disturbing' voice threatening to kill her.

According to the app store, the game was uploaded last Tuesday and so far, has had up to 5,000 downloads.

"Hi kid, I'm your new friend Happy Slappy,” Lucinda quoted the message.

“Whatever you want me to be called. You see, I want to play with you, kiddo."

Mum Lucinda has issued a warning about a fake prank call app for kids. Photo: Caters News
Mum Lucinda has issued a warning about a fake prank call app for kids. Photo: Caters News

"Maybe we can perform some fun games together. What's this Hogwash? You look afraid," the message continued.

"Is it this knife in my wurly curly hands? Making you're a little nervous, hah?

"That's alright because this knife is going to improve your look when it's sticking right out of you."

The game is set up so parents can pretend to their children they are calling their favourite TV character on their phone.

However unbeknownst to them, they could be exposing the youngsters to a chilling threat of violence.

“It's horrible. It definitely needs to be reported and removed,” Lucinda said.

She said a message on the app threatened to kill her child. Photo: Caters News
She said a message on the app threatened to kill her child. Photo: Caters News

"I was just browsing through the apps and came across it. I later saw that people were posting about it online.

"I think some parents would recognise the character and download it for their kids to play on without realising what was on it.

"Luckily I didn't play it to my daughter or two nephews. Blaze and The Monster Machines is more aimed at their age group of four and five-year-olds.

The certification provided by the app developer is PEGI 3, suggesting it is suitable for children aged three and above.

The developer, 'Ralph dev1' has created more than 40 prank call apps which are also available on the store, with characters including Super Mario, Iron Man, Deadpool, Sonic the Hedgehod, Tom and Jerry and Elf on the Shelf.

The reviews for this app on its Google Play page are full of shocked and outraged parents urging Google to remove it from the store.

"If the kid had heard this, they wouldn't sleep for weeks,” Lucinda said.

She has called for parents to be vigilant with kids apps. Photo: Caters News
She has called for parents to be vigilant with kids apps. Photo: Caters News

"I've honestly no idea why anyone would want to do this – maybe they just want to scare kids on purpose," she said.

"It's really disturbing that people are creating this kind of thing and threatening to stab young children.”

On the app store, reviews from the past week state that the app has been reported by many outraged parents.

"I never write reviews but this should be taken off the app store,” one user, Tegan Bevin.

"This is meant to be a kids' app, this is disgusting."

Google has now suspended the app and sources revealed the PEGI 3 rating was given by rating authorities after they had reviewed a questionnaire filled out by the developer.

“We have a set of policies designed to provide a great experience for users and developers and we act quickly to remove apps from Google Play that violate those policies,” a spokesperson for Google said.

With additional reporting by Caters News

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