On the one hand I agree, on the other this is sadly born from a safety issue - if there’s even a 0.1% chance of the guy getting aggressive if you turn him down, I’d also rather give a fake number. And due to selection bias of “guys hitting on strangers” that number is probably higher in reality - realistically a high number of women has either had that exact experience or knows someone that did.

And really if this happened to me, while it’d be more disappointing then just getting a “nah not interested” immediately, I think I’d mainly be sad that someone felt unsafe enough around me to do that, even if it might have nothing to do with me in particular at all. It’s not some kind of long leading on after all, and the reasons are understandable.

I long for a world where this just isn’t necessary at all.

Edit: i kinda forgot that the op had the prank part, but honestly I’d probably just think she’s a dick for giving me and apparently a lot of others some randos number lol - still you’re right you should only do that if the guy deserves it for being an ass