Calgary, July 2026
David wanted to improve his standard of living. Filling the shelves in a supermarket for the minimum wage didn’t provide the lifestyle he had in mind. But he was a high school dropout and the options for having a better job were limited.
“There is an easy fix to your money problems,” said his friend Jim. They knew each other from high school, but unlike David, Jim graduated, went to a trade school, completed his apprenticeship and became a qualified electrician.
“But how? You mean by getting a better job?” asked David.
“No. I mean by stealing money using a computer.”
“But I don’t know much about computers.” The fact that this advice implied stealing didn’t seem to bother David that much.
“That doesn’t matter. You can hire somebody who will do it for you.”
“How can I find somebody like that?”
“There is a part of the World Wide Web called Dark Net, which guarantees anonymity to the user. It is used by people like journalists who have compromising information about their governments and fear for their safety. It is also used by crooks. You can log on to it and find somebody you are looking for. It is all described in Google.”
David did check Google, download the required software and log on to the Dark Net. But before he did anything else, he stopped to think. Why would anybody want to steal for him if he could steal for himself? But then he got an idea: Why not simply to buy a few usernames and passwords of various bank accounts, log on and transfer money to his own account? But there was a problem. When the customer reports the fraud, the bank will see to which account the money went and will call the police. But that’s where the Dark Net came in. He could create an account which would be untraceable and move the stolen money there. Nobody would be able to find that transaction.
With that in mind, David created his Dark Net account, and in the Dark Net forum he let it know that he wants to buy some usernames and passwords into banking accounts of ordinary people. He didn’t want anything big which would initiate extensive investigation. Just a little bit of money to improve his standard of living. From the several offers, he selected 5 accounts and paid 500 dollars, all the money he had. But he couldn’t use any of those accounts. Each username and password also required a security code, transmitted to the cellphones to the owners of those accounts, and David didn’t know the telephone numbers.
“You sold me something I cannot use,” he wrote angrily to his Dark Net provider. “Without the security codes it is useless.”
“I sold you what you asked for. You never mentioned the security codes.”
“But you knew that I wouldn’t be able to use it.”
“Yes, I knew it. Dark Net is a tough neighbourhood.”
David was resigned to the loss of 500 dollars and thought that this was the end of the story, but it wasn’t. A little later, he got the following message:
“Dear friend. You still remember buying from me five usernames and passwords to steal money from private accounts? I have a record of all that, and I am sure the police would be interested. But for another 500 dollars I will keep my mouth shut.
Your friendly Dark Net provider.”
Now David was devastated. He didn’t have the additional 500 dollars, and even if he did, there wasn’t a guarantee that the guy wouldn’t blackmail him again. In desperation, David talked to his friend Jim. He explained about the 500 dollars he lost, and about the blackmail that guy was attempting. Jim was listening carefully and then asked David to show him the message. He read it for a long time and then said: “I wrote it.”
“You wrote it? Are you the one who is blackmailing me?”
“Yes.”
“Are you also the one who took my 500 dollars?”
“Yes, but I didn’t know that it was you.”
“But in the message, you threatened to reveal me to the police.”
“I was lying. Dark Net guarantees anonymity.”
There was another long silence. Then Jim took out his wallet, wrote a cheque for 500 dollars, gave it to David and said: “We are friends, and I suggest we forget about the whole episode. It never happened.”
David couldn’t agree more.