The Scammer

This story by Telos was originally written for his English class. He thought it was good and decided to copy it onto here.
==The Scammer==
Daniel Croft sat at his computer and rubbed his hands together. A smile crept across his slightly stubble-covered face as he listed a ‘grenade launcher’ on an online trading site. Daniel had been selling drugs, weapons and other black market items online for several years – except they were always scams. Unsuspecting criminals bought all sorts of illegal items over the internet, only to find their goods never arrived - except for the one time Daniel had sent somebody a gram of talcum powder in place of cocaine. Daniel had made a lot of enemies by doing this, but he had made heaps of money too. He often received threatening emails, but he didn’t care. Daniel simply responded to them, attaching the most malicious spyware and viruses he could create. Usually this resulted in the victim having to purchase a new computer, losing everything on their hard drive.
Daniel’s laptop was an old Acer, with a faded keyboard which was missing several keys. Despite this, he had all the latest illegal software and knew how to write all kinds of programs, including bots and keyloggers. Daniel Croft made an easy living – he hacked people’s bank accounts and stole as much money as he needed. Of course, he couldn’t steal too much from one account or it would draw attention to himself, and he always used a proxy to hide his computer IP address. Without using a proxy, the police would be able to trace his IP address to where he lived, and he’d be busted.
As Daniel greedily waited for someone to stumble into his online trap and purchase the fake rocket launcher, he heard a series of footsteps advance through the corridor of the building in which his dingy apartment was located. Daniel hurriedly closed the window and erased the computer's internet history just as five uniformed policemen burst into his apartment, two of them brandishing handguns.
“You’re under arrest on charges of theft and computer hacking offenses! You have the right to remain silent!” one of them declared, flashing his ID and holding up a warrant. Daniel threw his hands into the air in surrender.
“How did you find me? I cover my tracks well.” Daniel asked the cops.
“We had an informant. He will be rewarded well.” the nearest one replied.
“That little traitor Alex! He was the only one who knew of my activities!” gasped Daniel as a pair of handcuffs were snapped around his wrists. It was a façade of course; Daniel had a plan and Alex was in on it.
The five policemen marched him through the doorway, out into the corridor and inside a waiting elevator. He stepped into the small elevator and one of the policemen pressed the flashing ground floor button. The doors glided shut and the elevator descended six levels into the lobby. They passed through the secured sliding doors and Daniel was ushered into a checkered police car parked outside, and in moments the car lurched into the busy streets of New York City.
*
Twenty minutes later, Daniel Croft was waiting in a police interrogation room on 42nd Street. His fingerprints had already been taken, and he was waiting to be interviewed by the police. Along one wall was a long reflective mirror, which was no doubt one-way-glass, from which he was being observed. The walls, table and ceiling were painted a dull pale grey and the door was a similar shade of white. A government official wearing a suit & three policemen strode into the uninteresting room. The government official took a seat opposite Daniel while the cops stood at the back.
“Hello, Mr. Croft.” said the official. “My name is Adam Green.”
“Do I look like I care?” Daniel sneered rudely.
“You should. I can make your life VERY miserable.” replied Green, passing a folder filled with documents towards him.
“Go ahead then. I’m not saying a damn word,” stated Daniel firmly.
“Fine. You can spend the night in a temporary holding cell. I’ll arrange a date for you to go to court.” Green announced. He pulled the files back across the table and stashed them in a briefcase filled with other legal documents. The three police officers hauled Daniel to his feet and led him down the hallway into a bare cell where he would stay the night. Daniel strutted inside and slumped onto the small bed as the cops pulled the door shut and sealed it with a padlock. The police left, leaving Daniel on his own. He smiled slyly and waited in his cell for Alex to complete his side of the plot.
*
Six hours later, Daniel felt a pair of hands shake him from his slumber. He glanced up to see his friend and partner-in-crime Alex Williamson towering over him, grinning like a cat that got the cream.
“I told you it’d work,” sniggered Alex. “Those stupid cops paid me twenty grand for dobbing you in, and they never suspected I’d come back to set you free”.
“Yeah, this was a great plan! How did you get the door open though?” inquired Daniel.
“Spiked their drinks with sedative and stole a key,” Alex smirked. “Let’s get out of here, we’re both fugitives now. I’ve already booked us a flight to Britain. It’s leaving in about three hours.” Daniel hurried out of his cell and past the unconscious guards, before doubling over in laughter.
“I can’t believe we scammed the cops!” he howled as he passed the sleeping receptionist. The pair of criminals sprinted away from the police station and hailed a yellow taxicab. The car entered the endless stream of New York traffic and the two prepared for the coming flight to Britain. Their notorious scamming career was definitely not over; it had only just begun.
The End
Category:Articles by Telos