Case-file tool for repeat swatting victims

What to build

A swatting-incident case-file builder for harassment victims: a simple web app where victims log each incident (date, police report number, 911 call details, responding agency, suspected trigger) and export a timestamped PDF packet for police, lawyers, or anti-swatting registries.

Victims of repeated swatting face dozens of uncoordinated police interactions with no single record tying them together; a lightweight incident-logging and PDF-export tool turns scattered 911 calls and report numbers into one evidence packet.

Demand

Victims of serial swatting (like this couple hit 55 times in two years) and the lawyers/advocacy groups who help them need a way to prove a pattern to police and courts; the viral attention on this case shows public appetite for solutions, though the buyer base is small and non-recurring.

• Hacker NewsNews

  Couple was swatted 55 times in 2 years over a post about Norm Macdonald — 77 points, 78 comments on HN, indicating high engagement with the story.

• News report on repeated swatting incidentsNews

  Reporting describes a couple being swatted 55 times over two years, with the campaign allegedly linked to a social media post about Norm Macdonald.

• Victim accountNews

  Victim accounts describe frequency, timeline, and law enforcement responses to repeated false emergency calls, suggesting no existing tool tracks this for them.

Stack

• Next.js
• Supabase
• React PDF (or Puppeteer for PDF export)
• Twilio Lookup API (for call/number metadata)
• Vercel
• Clerk (auth)

Solo + AI difficulty

Easy MVP: CRUD incident log plus PDF export is a 1-2 week build for a solo dev with AI help. Harder parts are designing a format lawyers and police registries will actually accept, and handling sensitive victim data securely (encryption, access control) — budget extra time for that.

Entry threshold

A solo developer can build a simple case-tracking and PDF export web app in days using AI, though reaching the narrow victim/advocate audience and integrating with police anti-swatting registry programs requires manual outreach rather than scalable marketing.

Window

6-12 months

Where to find first users

• r/swatting and victim-support subreddits
• Victim-advocacy nonprofits (e.g. anti-swatting coalitions)
• Direct outreach to criminal defense / harassment lawyers
• Local news reporters covering swatting cases as a source referral channel

Counter-signals & risks

• The causal link between the specific social media post and the swatting campaign may be unverified or speculative, making attribution uncertain.

• Anti-swatting registries and documentation tools may have limited effectiveness if police departments do not uniformly adopt or honor them across jurisdictions.

• A documentation/evidence-packaging product targeting individual harassment victims may represent a narrow, low-volume market with limited monetization potential.