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FACT BRIEF

Can people report someone for not wearing a mask by phoning '867-5309'?

Wednesday, August 18, 2021
By Kaiyah Clarke
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NO

The phone number that appears in a social media post is the title of a popular 1980s song, "867-5309/ Jenny" by the power-pop band Tommy Tutone. This number has circulated as an inside joke for the past 40 years, and it has nothing to do with reporting maskless people.

The song "867-5309" was released November 19, 1981. In addition to the song becoming a mainstay on classic rock radio stations over the decades, it became a joke for people in various area codes to dial 867-5309 and ask to speak to "Jenny."

The social media post, carrying on the inside-joke legacy, consists entirely of the number from the song, along with "To report someone for not wearing a mask call ..."

The CDC's real recommendations regarding mask-wearing are posted on the agency's website.

See a full discussion of this at leadstories.com
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
TutoneJJ ‘867-5309/Jenny‘
New York Times Jenny, Don’t Change Your Number; You Might Want to Sell It on eBay
Forbes Remember 867-5309? Who Was Jenny? We Chat With Tommy Tutone
Centers for Disease Control Your Guide to Masks
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Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.