Filion would purposely create extreme scenarios to ensure that police reactions were extreme. The goal, he wrote in 2023, was to "get the cops to drag the victim and their families out of the house, cuff them, and search the house for dead bodies." He enjoyed the "power trip" and then began charging for the hoax calls. He faced a maximum sentence of 5 years for each incident and was facing a probable life sentence, so he accepted a plea bargain and was sentenced to four years in prison.

A teacher in high school once quoted an old proverb to me: "Do something you love, and you'll never work a day in your life!"

Perhaps 18-year-old Alan Filion encountered a similar teacher during his school years in California, because once Filion learned that he truly loved making fake "swatting" calls to law enforcement—well, he turned the crime into a job, using handles like "Nazgul Swattings" and "Third Reich of Kiwiswats." Originally it was all about the "power trip," but it soon became about "money and the power trip."

"Prices: $40-Gas leak/Fire for EMS/Fire/Gas Leak [$35 for returning customers]," Filion wrote in a 2023 advertisement that ran on various social media channels. "$50 for a major police response to the house [$40 for returning customers]; $75 for a bomb threat/mass shooting threat (they will shut down the school or public location for a day) [$60 for returning customers]. All swats will be done ASAP or present time."