Frick AG knew nothing about it Half-naked women suddenly appear on the municipal website

Following the release of a website on local planning by the municipality of Frick AG, the domain was taken over by a third-party provider. It now features advertising for an online casino.

An unpleasant surprise is currently awaiting those who visit the former Frick municipal planning website. Instead of information on the revision of land-use planning, it now features scantily clad women advertising an online casino.

However, the municipality has nothing to do with the new use of its former domain. Municipal clerk Michael Widmer assures the "Aargauer Zeitung".

Domain was taken over by a third party

The ortsplanung-frick.ch website was set up in March 2021 to give the population an easy way to find out about the partial revision of the land use planning and to actively participate. It was a popular tool for providing information on sustainable development and new regulations such as electric charging facilities in new buildings.

However, the domain was canceled and released after the public consultation on land use planning was completed in October 2024. Since then, it has belonged to an Indonesian provider who uses it for advertising. Municipal clerk Widmer explains: "As a result, the ortsplanung-frick.ch website has no longer been in operation since September 2024 anyway, regardless of its current use on our initiative," Widmer is quoted as saying.

Unpleasant consequence of the release

Back in November 2024, users saw an error message ("403 Forbidden") instead of the usual content. A short time later, the domain was taken over by a third party. According to experts, this is a common procedure in which released domains are specifically registered in order to benefit from the site's former reputation. However, the current use has nothing to do with the municipality.

The municipality of Frick is currently examining how it can take action against the unwanted link between its name and the new use of the website.