Outgoing US President Donald Trump's attempts to call the election result into question have backfired horribly, with a hotline his team set up to report voter fraud besieged by prank callers.
It was confirmed over the weekend that Trump had lost the election to Democrat challenger Joe Biden - but he's refused to accept the result, baselessly claiming the election is being stolen and pursuing legal action in several battleground states.
In hopes of unearthing some evidence of shady voting activity, his team has also set up a 'voter fraud hotline' - a phone number and website that allow Americans to report any untoward behaviour they spotted at polling booths or vote-counting facilities.
But staff manning the hotline are quickly becoming demoralised and fatigued, ABC reports, with pranksters inundating the hotline with mocking laughter, fake reports and pornographic images.
Prank calls to the hotline have become so popular that they've started trending on social media, with recordings of the calls being shared widely on TikTok and Twitter.
Among the pranks calls are reports of the Hamburglar stealing ballots, votes still being counted days after the election, and sightings of an "obese turtle" flailing on its back - a reference to CNN journalist Anderson Cooper's characterisation of Trump last week.
Jonathan Swan, the Australian journalist who drew plaudits for his aggressive, no-holds-barred interview with Trump earlier this year, said the hotline has turned into a "non-stop prank-fest that is driving campaign staff insane".
"Trump campaign aides manning the 'voter fraud hotline' describe mostly fielding prank calls from lefty teenagers and dealing with some disturbing unsolicited adult images," he wrote.
"I've been sent some of the visual offerings but honestly... it's better left unpublished."
President Trump falsely claimed victory on election night before mail-in ballots - which lean Democratic - were counted in several battleground states, which Biden went on to win.
The late shift in favour of Biden has enraged Trump, who has falsely claimed that the votes received after 8pm on election day are illegal votes and urged states to "stop the count".
