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TV station hacker warns of zombies in hoax broadcast [VIDEO]

A hacker broke into the emergency alert system of a Montana television station, unleashing a warning of the undead rising from their graves.
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Wall Street Protestors dressed as zombies hold up signs as the walk to the New York Stock Exchange after the opening bell on Wall Street In New York City on October 3, 2011. UPI/John Angelillo
Wall Street Protestors dressed as zombies hold up signs as the walk to the New York Stock Exchange after the opening bell on Wall Street In New York City on October 3, 2011. UPI/John Angelillo 
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Published: Feb. 12, 2013 at 10:40 AM
By GABRIELLE LEVY, UPI.com

A Montana TV station's emergency alert system was hacked by someone warning of an impending zombie apocalypse.

An emergency alert interrupted "The Steve Wilkos Show," on which teens cheaters were taking lie detector tests.

"Civil authorities in your area have reported that the bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living," an ominous voice intoned. "Follow the messages onscreen that will be updated as information becomes available. Do not attempt to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are considered extremely dangerous."

The Great Falls Police Department said it had received four phone calls asking if the alert was real.

"Then I thought, ‘Wait. What if?’” Lt. Shane Sorensen told the Great Falls Tribune. “We can report in the city, there have been no sightings of dead bodies rising from the ground.”

Sorensen said he wasn't sure what, if any, penalties the hacker would face if caught.

KRTV acknowledged on its website that it had indeed been hacked, and that there was no immediate danger from the undead.

Someone apparently hacked into the Emergency Alert System and announced on KRTV and the CW that there was an emergency in several Montana counties.

This message did not originate from KRTV, and there is no emergency.

Our engineers are investigating to determine what happened and if it affected other media outlets.

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