The installation was flawless. Revit 2023 launched without a watermark. She smiled — until her cursor moved on its own.

Her hands trembled as she clicked. The download finished in seven minutes.

Autodesk’s legal team later told her that over 4,000 people had fallen for similar “direct download” pages in 2023. None recovered their files without paying. Some paid and got nothing.

The first sign was a terminal window flashing encrypting C:\Users\Maya\Projects\ . Then, a text file appeared on her desktop: “Your files are locked. 0.5 BTC to release them. Also, we’ve emailed your clients a sample of their confidential floor plans. Pay or we leak everything.”