Hoi chummers—a client called me with what could be an exciting opportunity for a team like yours. It’s a multi-day covert affair, with a lot of flexibility required. Think you can help ruin someone’s day, without them realizing it?

Normally I wouldn’t be so forthcoming with all the details before you showed interest, but this one is juicy enough that I think it’s worth sharing. The target, a bloke we’ll call Markov, has a very important in-person meeting next week. Something has to be done or signed or otherwise handled in the flesh, and he’s the one who needs to do it. My client wants to make sure that meeting doesn’t happen, but not in any way that the missed connection looks suspicious.

Here’s where the creativity comes in. Maybe you reroute his car’s navigation, maybe you cause some sudden and inexplicable traffic, maybe the morning’s breakfast doesn’t go down so easily, maybe his sister has an emergency and needs him right now. Whatever the case, make sure he’s at least 15 minutes late to that meeting.

Heck, it doesn’t even have to be one big thing; a series of small delays can add up to a large effect if they’re executed well enough.

My client knows that, if the first meeting is missed, there will be two more opportunities for make-ups. The specific dates and times will be set after the first no-show, and so you get to do a lot of thinking on your feet. They know you’ll have at minimum four hours before the next meet can be set, so hopefully that’s enough prep for whatever incidents you come up with.

The key—and I can’t stress this enough—is that the target does not realize he’s being intentionally delayed. The client is paying for the target to miss all three meetings by at least 15 minutes, and that he walks away cursing his bad fortune rather than industrial espionage.

If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, let me know. The client needs to get a team together by tonight to go over the particulars.

Hong Kong’s neon streets were photographed by David Mark for Pixabay,
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