You know how characters in movies and TV shows always have numbers that start with "555?" That's because "555" is an essentially non-functional phone prefix in the U.S., being used mostly for directory assistance purposes.

Well, nobody apparently explained that little principle to the folks over at Netflix's "Squid Game:"

In an early scene of Netflix Inc.'s megahit "Squid Game," a charming stranger hands a business card to the show's debt-strapped protagonist. The card contains an eight-digit phone number. Those who call get unknowingly invited to a life-or-death competition where the winner reaps a massive financial prize.

"Who are you?" asks Seong Gi-hun, the show's main character.

It's a question—and an offer—that has enticed "Squid Game" fans world-wide. In real life, they are dialing the number in droves, from South Korea to South America, seeking a connection to a dystopian drama that has unexpectedly become Netflix's No. 1 show in more than 90 countries.

But the phone number, and even misdialed approximations, belong to actual South Koreans, adding unintended terror, or at least extreme aggravation, to a show already packed with it.

Live shot of everyone in South Korea with that phone number:

I'm not joking! One guy needs medicine now to fall asleep after getting phone calls every 20 SECONDS.

A South Korean man, in his mid-40s and a small-business owner, has borne the brunt of the "Squid Game" calling craze. His mobile phone number matches the show's fictitious one exactly. He has received 4,000 calls a day—averaging one every 20 seconds or so—and needs medication now to fall asleep at night, the man told local media in brief interviews days after "Squid Game" made its debut.

People with similar phone numbers are also getting misdials from all over the world.

It might not be as bad as the carnage depicted in the show, but please...

Don't do this.

Use your time more appropriately. Go for a walk. Read a book. Do something other than this!

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