It's pretty normal to wake up on one's birthday to a flood of messages from friends, family and other well-wishers.

But for one man in St. John's, the birthday greetings are from a string of strangers, thanks to a prank by a "friend."

Krista Murrins is the culprit behind the posters. She wanted everyone to wish her friend Joel a happy birthday. (Mark Quinn/CBC)

That friend is Krista Murrins, who says she's been in a prank war with her friend Joel ever since he hid her car.

"I got back at him by Saran Wrapping his car and doing other stuff, and then next time he actually filled my car up with balloons. This is his 56th birthday, so I decided to do this to continue the war," said Murrins.

In an ongoing prank war with her friend Joel, Krista Murrins plastered posters around St. John's, asking strangers to text her friend happy birthday. 0:52

"Help me prank my friend for his birthday. Text him Happy Birthday November 3, 2017 … (His name is Joel)," read signs plastered around the city, including inside a Walmart and at bus shelters.

The posters have made their way to social media, where one Facebook post has been shared hundreds of times.

Someone named Joel is having a bday today and a friend of his is encouraging ppl to txt their bday wishes to him via signs around the city. <a href="https://t.co/Se12rHCcCO">pic.twitter.com/Se12rHCcCO</a> —@CarlaCrotty

Update on bday boy. Spoke to friend that is responsible and she sent me this screenshot of Joel’s phone. See previous tweet for directions. <a href="https://t.co/QQcCqDt5Dc">pic.twitter.com/QQcCqDt5Dc</a> —@CarlaCrotty

Murrins said Joel's received hundreds of text messages, some of them from as far away as Kenya, FaceTime messages and calls from places like Ohio.

As for retaliation in the ongoing prank war, she isn't worried.

"I actually look forward to it," Murrins said.

Given the number of messages on Joel's phone, CBC News' interview requests have, understandably, gone unanswered.