A 70-strong SWAT team swooped on a teenager's family home in the US after a gamer he had just beaten online at 'Call of Duty' made a prank call to police.

Helicopters, emergency vehicles, and an army of police raced to the Long Island home of Rafael Castillo (17) after receiving reports of a bloody rampage.

The prank caller told police he was Rafael, adding "I just killed my mother and I might shoot more people". Rafael's mother was in the kitchen at the time, while his brother Jose arrived during the two-hour standoff.

He said "I thought there was a fire at my house. I ran up and saw my mom running out, I didn't know what was going on. Then one of the police officers said somebody called and said that the mother and brother of somebody in this house was killed. I said, 'How is that possible if she's right there and I'm right here?'".

Nassau County's special operations unit spent 20 minutes shouting for Rafael to come out, but he was wearing headphones and did not hear their requests.

Police say Rafael's angry opponent probably traced Rafael's IP address online to find out where he lived.

Long Beach Police Commissioner Michael Tangney said it was an example of a "swatting" craze.

He told CBS "In this bizarre world of Swatting, you get points for the helicopter, for the police cars, for the Swat team, for the type of entry. It's very sophisticated. Unfortunately, it’s very dangerous".

In April last year comedian Russell Brand was targeted in a swatting prank.

An anonymous call was made to police in Los Angeles alleging that two men were approaching his Hollywood Hills home with a gun.

Armed officers turned up at the address, only to find the house empty. Selena Gomez, Diddy, Rihanna and Justin Timberlake have fallen victim to similar pranks.