What did Austin Goss do? Prank call using South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's number leads to arrest

Austin Goss, a reporter based in South Dakota was arrested on Thursday, May 4, for making a prank call using Governor Kristi Noem’s personal phone number. The Stanley County Sheriff’s Department stated that Austin was employed as the capitol bureau reporter at Dakota News Now. He was fired after his arrest in connection with charges of the prank call.

Austin was arrested on May 4 and was released later on a personal recognizance bond. KOTA Territory News and Dakota News Now, where he used to work, issued a joint statement at around 3:30 pm on the same day and announced the termination of the reporter.

Austin Goss was arrested after involving Governor Kristi Noem's number to make a prank call. (Image via Twitter/@jazzmineabriana)

The call allegedly made by Austin was a pre-recorded prank from PrankDial.com, titled "Mafia Guy Got Vaccines." The skit for the same involved the caller posing as a mafia member, angrily accusing the recipient of stealing boxes of vaccines that were stashed in their basement. When the call ends, an automated voice message is relayed:

“You’ve just been pranked by PrankDial.com.”

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Austin Goss' biographical page has been removed

The two news outlets where Austin was an employee, wrote in their joint statement:

"Dakota News Now and KOTA Territory were unaware of Mr. Goss’ activities and deeply regret the lack of judgment he showed, which violated our policies and is contrary to our commitment to the highest standards of journalistic integrity."

Austin's name and image, along with his biographical page were removed from the news outlets' staff directory online.

A special agent at the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation wrote a statement that seems to be the probable cause behind Austin Goss' arrest. According to the statement, a 50-year-old individual with D.L. as his initials reported to the South Dakota Highway Patrol about receiving a harassing phone call at around 8:30 pm on January 22.

As per documents, the call was made from PrankDial, which made it appear to the 50-year-old man as though the call was from Kristi Noem's cell phone.

The former chair of the South Dakota Republican Party, Dan Lederman confirmed on Thursday that he was the recipient of the prank call. Lederman also told investigators that Austin sometimes used to text him snide or rude remarks, adding that the tone and tenor of the caller startled him and worried him about his safety.

Investigators detected that the IP address used for making the prank calls from PrankDial belonged to Austin Goss' home at Fort Pierre.

Dan Leaderman reported the prank call made by Austin Goss (Image via Twitter/@THEJRAnderson)

Kristi Noem announced on January 23 that she urged the United States Attorney General as well as multiple congressional committees to look into the matter of the leak of her family's private information, including her personal mobile number.

The South Dakota governor's office said in a press release at the time that Noem's phone number was hacked to make prank calls in which she did not have any involvement.

It is unclear whether the prank calls that were allegedly made by Austin Goss and the leak of the Governor’s phone number are directly connected. Investigators reasoned that Austin Goss likely had both Dan and Noem’s cell phone numbers, and he probably took advantage of that to make the prank calls under Noem’s identity.