UPDATE: Well folks, how do you feel about a nice potential hoax on this fine Wednesday? We’ve got some savvy readers, one of them being Eric, who points to an article calling out The Boston Tickler story as a fake.

“Granted the source is cracked but I am inclined to believe this is a hoax,” he writes of this story on Cracked.com (item No. 4). It says the whole thing is basically a joke a bunch of students are playing on everyone. Because tickling is so funny! Tee hee.

It is a bit fishy that all the victims appear to be college-age men, and that the original story appeared on a student site, written by students. Oh yeah, and the Boston Police Department says it’s only heard of one incident in the last two years — check out this update.

At least we had a laugh, eh?

—————– ORIGINAL STORY BELOW———————-

Hide your toes, hide your feet and lock your doors, Boston: Police say a serial tickler is breaking into homes in the Brighton area and targeting men with his fluttering fingers.

There were three reported break-ins in Brighton just this week, reports WCVB.com, involving a man who’s sole mission appears to be tickling.

One man relayed the tale of his terrified roommate: “He felt something on his foot and thought it was the cat,” he recalls. “He woke up to see a man crouched by his bed.”

They didn’t pursue the man, and it appears that he’d just walked in through an unlocked door.

A Boston College student also reported encountering The Boston Tickler (as he shall henceforth be known as) a few weeks ago.

“There was a man in the room with a ski mask,” he said of his brush with TBT. “We made eye contact and he immediately left, and ran downstairs and out the front door. It’s definitely a very scary experience turning over and seeing someone in my room.”

Victims say he doesn’t hurt anyone and hasn’t taken anything else from their homes. Police are still on the lookout.

Meanwhile, I would be wearing shoes to bed every night because tickling is the worst.

Serial tickler targeting men in Brighton [WCVB.com]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.