It appears 0888 888 888 is the cellphone version of the monkey’s paw — bringing disaster to all those who acquire it. The Bulgarian mobile phone company has removed the number from circulation after all of its previous owners died within the last ten years.

First there was Vladimir Grashnov – the former CEO of Bulgarian mobile phone company Mobitel who died of cancer in 2001 at 48. There were rumors of murder from radioactive poisoning in the case.

The cursed number then passed to Bulgarian mafia boss, Konstantin Dimitrov, who was gunned down by rivals in 2003 during a trip to the Netherlands. He was 31.

The number then moved on to Konstantin Dishliev a businessman, who was gunned down outside an Indian restaurant in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia. Dishliev, an estate agent, had secretly been running a massive cocaine trafficking operation before his assassination in 2005.

Now, if you call the number, you get a recording saying the phone is “outside network coverage.” Way outside. (Cue creepy music).

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