Listen to the Hilarious Call Between a Ransomware Hacker and a Random Company Employee

'I'm sorry. I'm a hacker and I don't care about the law.'

About three weeks ago, Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai of TechCrunch reported a hilarious phone call between a hacker who claimed to represent the ransomware gang DragonForce and a rank-and-file employee he encountered in his stumbling attempt to extort the company.

I just discovered the call's actual audio, and it’s an even better listen than Lorenzo’s report. You can play the ten-minute call below or click the link to listen. (I deleted the first seven seconds to protect the company’s privacy.)

The hacker, who spoke in a Russian accent and called himself Patrick Hill (likely a nod to the Jason Statham movie Wrath of God), called the company's front desk and was transferred from the receptionist to an HR employee named Beth.

Hilarity then ensued as Patrick frustratingly tried to explain to Beth that the company had only eight hours to pay up or else their stolen files would be released.

After Patrick sought to gauge Beth’s level in the company, Beth said she couldn’t see how that was relevant, and the following exchange occurred:

Patrick: Because I was asking to transmit to your management team of the company, but okay, I'll explain you what's going on. Okay. Once again, loud and clear. I'm representing Dragon Force, and I'm informing you that your company was hacked by us and all the private and sensitive and private data was compromised and stolen.

Beth: Now, why would you attack us?

Patrick: So this question is not related to the business. Okay? Please, once again.

Beth: Actually, it is related to our business,

After attempting to emphasize how much data was stolen and explain all the bad things that might befall the company if the stolen data were released, the following exchange took place:

Patrick: And also, I already contacted mass media with the information about the situation, and I already provided recordings of previous phone calls as a confirmation that company was informed about the situation.

Beth: Oh, so does that include the conversation with Patricia? Because you know that's illegal in Ohio.

Patrick: Excuse me?

Beth: You can't do that in Ohio. Did you record Patricia?

Patrick: Ma'am, I am a hacker. Yes. I don't care about the law. I'm sorry. I'm a hacker, and I don't care about the law.

Beth then said, “I would never negotiate with a terrorist or a hacker as you call yourself.”

After Beth asked for his phone number, Patrick said, “The thing is that you cannot call me. I got no phone number.”

At that point, Beth had had enough and said, “I'm going to just go ahead and end this phone call now. I think we spent enough time and energy on this.” She wished Patrick luck and ended the call.

Listen to the entire call below.

Listen to the audio Your browser does not support the audio element.

The call can also be found at this link.