From Teenage Cybercriminal to Cybersecurity Expert

The Rise of a Digital Prodigy

Picture this: It’s 2002. Apple just launched the first iMac G4, Nokia brick phones rule the world, and a 7-year-old kid in France is already cracking computer passwords. While his classmates are trading Pokémon cards, Florent Curtet is busy bypassing security protocols on his dad’s computer. The kid isn’t just good—he’s a prodigy. By 12, he’s hacking prepaid phone cards. By 16, he’s making €100,000 in 15 minutes. And by 17, the CIA has labeled him a serious cybercriminal.

Curtet wasn’t just messing around in a dark basement. He was running a full-scale cyber empire. He cracked codes, printed fake credit cards, and outsmarted financial systems designed to be foolproof. By the time most kids were applying for their first summer jobs, he was pulling in six figures in days.

Hacking for Survival: The Teenage Cybercrime Empire

Florent didn’t hack for fun. He hacked to survive. Bullied at school, he turned to the one place where he had control—the internet. But unlike your average forum lurker, Florent didn’t just scroll. He dominated.

By 15, he had infiltrated private hacker forums. By 16, he was selling stolen credit card data in bulk. A single high-end stolen card could fetch €2,000, and he had thousands of them. His bedroom became a financial crime hub. He manufactured fake credit cards, ran a counterfeit currency operation, and even manipulated banking networks.

The money was obscene. Shopping sprees in Paris, designer clothes, first-class flights, five-star hotels—Florent was living like a millionaire before he could legally drink. At 16, he once walked into a nightclub and dropped €10,000 on bottle service just because he could.

The Ultimate Cyber Heist