Police in Los Angeles have come up with a new way of responding to celebrity-related hoax calls after a string of "swatting" alerts.

• Tom Cruise *, *Ashton Kutcher *, *Miley Cyrus *, *Chris Brown *and *Kim Kardashian *'s parents have all fallen victim to Hollywood's latest craze.

The hoaxes have sparked a series of police emergencies and raids on the stars' homes - to check out reports of intruders, shooting incidents and kidnap.

In a bid to put a stop to the pranksters, top police are now training officers to be more aware of "swatting".

"We haven't changed the way we respond but we want to be careful it is not a prank," deputy chief Debra McCarthy told the Los Angeles Times.

R&B star Brown was the latest "swatting" victim on Monday, when police were called to his home after reports of a possible shooting. The singer was not at home at the time of the incident.