— From the How Did We Get Here Series —
Now: Young man sits in his apartment in handcuffs. Police are confiscating his laptop. Girlfriend is sitting on the couch with her head in her hands and crying.
Before: Jim couldn’t believe his luck. He was an out of work computer programmer who hacked occasionally on the side to pick up some extra money. While at a small coffee shop the previous day, he was approached by a young lady who seemed to know his credentials asking Jim if he could help move some computer files around. It was quick easy money so Jim was quick to agree. As Jim sat down at his computer the next day, he tried to log into the primary account that was going to transfer this lady’s money only to see a pop-up window that said “Incorrect Username/Password combination – Please try again.” Well, he did try again…three times. Behind the scenes, the account was locked out, the police alerted, and poor Jim arrested.
Even More Detail: The girl who gave Jim the website to visit couldn’t have been more pleased. The first time he tried to log in, her program went into action as it drained every dime from Jim’s bank account. The small conversation they had in the coffee shop was enough for her to glean the needed information she required for the heist. So, while Jim thought he was doing one thing she was doing another. Jim’s girlfriend is on the couch crying because she wanted to drain his bank account that morning and leave him that evening but when she logged into it the account was already empty.
Image from Cheezburger.com
