Phone hoax targeted guest at Holiday Inn in Omaha, Nebraska

A Nebraska Holiday Inn suffered damages in excess of $100,000 this week when a phone prankster posing as a hotel employee convinced a guest to set off a sprinkler system, according to police

The January 9 hoax targeting the Omaha hotel (pictured at right), which caused significant damage to seven guest rooms and a conference room, is identical to scores of prior calls placed to hotels by members of Pranknet, the online band of phone vandals. The group has often targeted Holiday Inn locations because callers can be directly connected to rooms without needing to know guest names