Squid Game: Netflix to edit key phone number out of hit series following prank calls

Netflix is to edit a phone number out of its breakout hit Squid Game after a woman claimed it is hers and she has been deluged by calls to her mobile phone.

As a major plot point in the South Korean series, indebted contestants are invited to ring the number and to play deadly games for money.

The show is on track to become Netflix's biggest series ever, but according to a South Korean businesswoman, there's a flip side to Squid Game's popularity.

Kim Gil-young told local broadcaster SBS she had been hit with tonnes of calls and texts, but could not change her number for fear of losing clients.

The show, written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, premiered on September 17 and reached the number one spot for 90 countries in just 10 days.

Squid Game has been compared to The Hunger Games, Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror and 2014 Japanese horror film As The Gods Will.

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Netflix said on Wednesday: "Together with the production company, we are working to resolve this matter, including editing scenes with phone numbers where necessary."

Ofcom also waded in on the matter, stating a working phone number would never be shown on TV in the UK.

"When you see or hear a UK phone number in a TV or radio show, it's from a special list of numbers we've set aside for this specific use," it explained on Instagram.