Infamous 'Momo Challenge' hacking into children's shows on Youtube: Reports

According to a Manchester Evening News report, videos showing the creepy character popping up in seemingly innocent Peppa Pig episodes are being widely circulated on Facebook.

They show the character - a terrifying bug-eyed woman - telling children to hurt others and themselves, reported the newspaper.

A British school even warned parents on the matter.

Haslingden Primary School warned in a Facebook post: "We have become increasingly aware of highly inappropriate videos circulating online and are being viewed by children across the school. These video clips are appearing on many social media sites and YouTube (including Kids YouTube). One of the videos starts innocently, like the start of a Peppa Pig episode for example, but quickly turn into an altered version with violence and offensive language."

"Another video clip is going by the name of 'MoMo' which shows a warped white mask which is promoting children to do dangerous tasks without telling their parents. Examples we have noticed in school include asking the children to turn the gas on or to find and take tablets," it said.

"As you can imagine, this is highly distressing for the children to view. We encourage you to be vigilant when your child is using any device or watching any clips," the school warned parents.

Amid reports that the game has hit Britain,  Police in Northern Ireland said the game is run by hackers to grab personal information.

"This freaky looking creature is 'Momo', the latest online app character behind headlines like "Suicide game hits UK," getting people clicking like mad on articles to read more. Great for a short term shock effect, but not great long term as it somewhat misses the bigger issue," police said in a Facebook post.

"Even basic open source research suggests that 'Momo' is run by hackers who are looking for personal info. Whatever or whoever is behind it, there is no disputing the content being sent is horrendous," read the post by PSNI in Craigavon.

It said: " A 'curse contact' sends a number and tells you to contact them on Whatsapp. One video of such interaction in America I've seen shows an ominous sounding voice recording being sent to a child telling them to take a knife to their own throat. Another threatens family if a 'challenge' is not completed. It's chilling viewing. There are numerous variations and of course now imitators."

"Back to the bigger picture: as creepy as she looks, `Momo` isn't going to crawl out of your childs phone and kill them," the police said.

"The danger lies with your child feeling pressured to either follow the orders of ANY app via 'challenges', or peer pressure in chat rooms and the like. This is merely a current, attention grabbing example of the minefield that is online communication for kids. In 2017 it was 'Blue Whale', now it's 'Momo'. There'll be something else next. Don't focus only on Momo, but make sure you know what your child has online access to. More important is that your child knows not to give out personal info to ANYONE they don't know, that no one has the right to tell them to, or make them do ANYTHING they don't want to," it said.

Remembering the scary memories of Blue Whale Game, similar blackmailing based Momo Suicide Game has made its headway in several countries, including Argentina, Mexico, France, Germany and few states of the USA, and already claimed few lives.

The game also hit India in recent times.