Summaries

Synopsis

What do you do if you're busy living your best life online and someone steals your face, your name and even your puppy pics and starts using them to set up multiple profiles and scam people?? Where do you go for help and how do you stop your image being used??Belfast entrepreneur James, who's just turned 30, has been living the insta-dream: flash clothes, fast cars and fabulous holidays. That was until he started getting messages from random people saying they're been talking to him and he'd conned them - stealing hearts and cash.James started searching online and he discovered his accounts had been scraped, his pictures taken and his face was on hundreds of fake profiles. As he attempts to get his identity back, James discovers a dark and utterly heartless modern crime run by organised gangs. He finds there's even more to the scams than he first realised and his search for answers takes him on an international journey and into a place he never thought he'd go.The documentary sees James zooms with Mallory and Dani in the USA and Leticia in Brazil - all had spoken with profiles using James' face.He meets with one of the UK's leading detectives, Becky Mason who specialises in Online crime. Becky explains how this crime affects young people. She tells James, "...we were then finding that maybe the younger generation were not reporting it. Whether they felt embarrassed about it. You've got that, omg I've just been a victim of it. Realistically if I report it is anything going to be done regardless? So, am I better off not? So our figures were incorrect anyway. Unless we can see the true impact this is having on people. How can we react to that? So, I would just push for anyone that has been a victim to at least log it".Criminologist and Forensic Linguist, Dr Liz Carter sets out how sophisticated the scammers use of language is. Using the transcript of a conversation between a woman and one of the fake profiles using James' pictures, Liz explains, "This language it is so persuasive, and it makes the victim feel and behave in a way that they feel like they're making good, rational, reasonable choices and then suddenly everything crumbles down around them and then they feel completely stupid and they feel like they've given all their money away. But actually, it's really psychological manipulation".James turns to top scambaiter, Jim Browning for help - Jim warns that this sort of con is hard to intercept but he is game to have a go. His research uncovers more startling information and detail about this modern crime. Jim introduces James to 'Beard' a young man who says he answered a job advert and found himself working in a scam compound.As James learns more he travels to Thailand where he meets Andrew Wasuwongse, director of the charity, International Justice Mission, that investigates scam compounds and helps build legal cases against them. Andrew explains how young people are targeted to work in the compounds, "Forced scamming is perhaps one of the most complex and fastest growing forms of modern slavery in the world right now".

Andrew takes James to meet Director Gam of the Department of Special Investigation's Bureau of Human Trafficking Crime who explains, "The offenders come from many countries. They are actual criminal organisations. Now I'm seeking international cooperation in order to identify the people who own the company responsible for the crime and prosecute them".

While in Bangkok, James learns more about why his profile was attractive to scammers and why they targeted him. 'Gavesh' was trafficked into Myanmar after he answered a communications job advert. With the help of IJM, he was eventually repatriated home after he escaped the scam compound. He tells James why his photos were taken, "They (the gang bosses) wanted us to search Instagram, some profiles that they want us to create a new profile.

James: Can you describe the types of profiles that you were told to find?

Gavesh: Someone who has good selfies, in every angle. Has a good job. Someone who is like a gentleman type. Someone with pets, money, They wanted profile with more than a hundred photos".

Gavesh: "We were like in a prison. Every aspect in my life was that we had a timetable they controlled everything. We have to work 16 hours more like that and maybe we don't have enough time to sleep. There were so many rules. If you don't obey them, they will punish you".James travels to an area of Thailand bordering Myanmar to see the scam compounds for himself. He meets two charity workers who monitor activity and help people who do manage to escape.James reflects on what he has seen and heard. "The fact that I if I start an Instagram story whilst I am in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, and, you know, a couple of hours later, it's being shared around the world on a fake profile that originates here. It's just crazy.

I feel like my initial thoughts were, Oh wow, a documentary that's great for me, like initially, I thought that's fantastic for me. But very quickly, I realised that this is not about me. This is about so much more than me.

It's like a pyramid of abuse. Right down to the bottom, which is the person on the other side of the world, given their life savings away or taking out a loan because the things are going to make money on cryptocurrency which makes it such a horrific crime".Hunting the Catfish Crime Gang (1x60) is a co-commission for BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Three by Strident made with support from Northern Ireland Screen.