Scottish ISP hit by cut-price calls hoax

A Scottish ISP has been singled out by malicious hoaxers in what is believed to be part of a vendetta against the company. The hoaxers created a spoof Web site offering flat-fee 24/7 access to the Net after using false information to register a free domain with the ISP Freenetname. The spoof domain -- xcalibre.org.uk -- included the name and personal telephone numbers of an employee at the genuine ISP Xcalibre Communications. He was bombarded with 100 calls a day from Net users wanting to take advantage of the £19.99 a month offer for 24/7 dial-up Net access. The company, based in West Lothian, also received a number of calls. The bogus site was launched last week after being registered through Freenetname -- the subscription-free ISP that offers free domain names for its customers. The offending site was removed by Freenetname last week after Xcalibre convinced the ISP that the site was a vindictive hoax. The site xcalibre.org.uk is now safe in the hands of Xcalibre Communications. It's not known why Xcalibre was targeted in this way but it's believed the perpetrator had some kind of grudge against the company. Rhian Ball, development director at Freenetname confirmed that it had shut down the offending site. She also said Freenetname has been forced to remove a number of sites since the ISP was launched earlier this month. ®