Pranknet pranksters breaks out loose

PrankNET, a group often imitated and deviously duplicated appears to be at the center of a growing shocking pranks trend that has harried hoteliers and restaurateurs for months and is now being investigated by the FBI. The head of PrankNET, who goes by the online name "dex" and has been behaving badly since 2000.

Members of PrankNET chat online, stream their calls live on an Internet radio show and post their greatest hits to a YouTube page, a popular breeding ground for more stupid stuff pranks ideas. During their calls they often drop the name of a security corporation or say they are phoning from a hotel's front desk to lend themselves an air of credibility and to get their victims to do surprising things.

The sheer difficulty of tracing prank calls placed online, and the social-networking programs used by pranksters, has increased their visibility and daring. A small community of prank callers have long enjoyed Dex's work, but some are growing concerned over his increasingly destructive ends.

Despite this string of incidents, an FBI official in Washington said the pranks do not represent a trend. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center has received just one complaint stemming from the incidents. Cybersecurity experts say such attacks are dangerous and may be on the rise.

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