The "scam site" was an exact replica of his legitimate portfolio website, down to his personal bio and the photo of his late dog. But the code inside was different. Woven into the metadata of the images were encrypted logs of every keystroke he had made for the last three years.

As he read the words, his internet connection cut out. His bank accounts didn't drain, and his files didn't delete. Instead, his monitor flickered once and displayed a live feed of a man sitting in a dimly lit apartment, looking at a screen.

He realized then that the site wasn't designed to steal money from strangers. It was a mirror built by someone who knew him perfectly. A text file at the bottom of the archive, dated today, simply read: