Chapter 305
Creative Edge Technologies?
Exclair Digital Solutions?
The two IP addresses were practically next to each other. Lydia couldn’t tell which company was really behind it.
She started digging online, searching for info about both companies. The more she looked, the crazier it got. Both companies acted like they were regular tech businesses, but everything they were actually doing was illegal.
Troll farms like these were shady by default, so it was no surprise that both were running illegal operations.
An idea popped into her head. She grabbed her burner account and headed straight to the comments under the video that was targeting her.
@ComebackKing: I want to be a pro troll too. Which company do you guys work for? How can I get in touch?
@MidnightPhantom: Hey, how much do you make a day? I’m totally broke. Can you hook me up?
@TheEnforcer: How do you even become a troll? Can you share some contacts?
She kept going, tossing in more comments.
@ComebackKing: My DMs are acting up. Are you really at Exclair?
@MidnightPhantom: Do you guys at Exclair get paid by the hour?
@TheEnforcer: Thanks so much, you all. I finally have a shot at a job.
People started noticing right away. Her comments blew up with likes and replies, climbing to the top of the feed.
It didn’t take long before the story about Chief Lydia getting targeted started spreading everywhere. Suddenly everyone online knew about Exclair. People started searching for the company and posting screenshots.
‘ComebackKing’ was going hard in the comments, bashing Lydia, when his phone rang. It was his boss from the troll farm. As soon as he picked up, he got an earful. “Are you stupid? Did you tell someone named ‘dialy’ that you work at Exclair?”
At the same time, ‘MidnightPhantom’ and ‘TheEnforcer’ also got calls and were completely chewed out by their supervisors.
They’d been so busy spamming comments that they had no clue what was going
on.
Meanwhile, Lydia tracked their IPs and finally confirmed it: Exclair Digital Solutions was the company behind the attacks.
She switched to her main account, Chief Lydia, and sent a direct message to Exclair’s official page.
Note: How much did the person pay you to go after me?
Alfredo, Exclair’s boss, saw the message and instantly felt a lump in his throat.
No one had ever found their company this fast before.
“Howard, we’re exposed,” he said, showing his phone to his partner.
Howard glanced at the message, looking surprised. “Wow, looks like our target actually has some skills. How did they track us down so quickly?”
They’d been so careful, only ever dealing with the trolls directly, never leaving any evidence themselves. How had they been discovered? Googlá´‡ search
Maybe the rumors online were right. Maybe one of their own trolls had leaked company info.
“Howard, I told them not to share anything about the company or they’d be breaking their contract lose all their pay,” Alfredo said,
those
suddenly regretting making n
calls in a panic. “This has gotto be a bluff.”
“Do you really trust those people?” Howard said, frowning. “We pay professionals to hide our IPs. Even if she hired one of the top info brokers on the dark web, she shouldn’t have found us this fast.
Alfredo stared at him. “You think one of our trolls ratted us out?”
“If someone offers enough money, do you really think they’d stay loyal?” Howard replied.
Alfredo swore under his breath. “I
tel.
knew those people would sell us out for a quick buck. Now we’re completely exposed. What are we supposed to do?”