Episode 2 The Real Hustle

This is the most successful scam show of all time.

A hit in 45 countries around the world.

The Real Hustlers have stolen cars...

It's perfectly safe there.

..burgled houses...

..picked...

..switched...

and ditched

A tenner for the lot.

They've carried out close to 500 scams and stolen over £1 million.

Now they're back for an 11th series.

With new recruits...

Their job: to expose the tricks of the criminals' trade

so that YOU don't get scammed.

On tonight's show there's a new four-legged hustler on the team.

-Excuse me, is this your bag?

-No.

Polly turns pennies into free drinks.

I want you to end it all the coins in a row.

And guest hustler Sam Faiers gets Alex all hot and bothered.

-That's my car!

-That is my car!

-That's not your car.

-I'm taking the car.

The Hustlers have invited celebrity friends to see if they can cut it as con artists.

But they'll have no clue as to what the scam is about

and there are no dress rehearsals.

So this is sink or swim.

Today's guest hustler is one of the stars of The Only Way is Essex,

Sam Faiers.

You need to be sort of like a strong person. You need to be on the ball

and like almost like a good actress as well. To be honest,

my acting skills aren't amazing but I might be good. See what happens!

Our show is reality. It's our lives.

We know what to expect, it's our relationship. Whereas this is, at the moment, a secret.

Time for Sam to find out what's in store for her today.

-Have you ever heard the term "woman scorned"?

-No.

A woman scorned is a woman who's very, very angry.

-Am I going to be making somebody feel really bad?

-Yeah - me!

-OK, that's good.

-That's all right, is it?

-It's all right!

-OK!

First thing to do is get ourselves a big mansion.

-You and I are going to pretend to be very rich.

-Cool.

-Ready?

-Yeah!

Sam's going to have to turn on the tantrums in A Woman Scorned.

The first step in the scam was to find a nice big house to set the scene.

That was Jazz and Polly's job.

It needed to be in an upmarket area and had to look proper money.

-The name's Mr and Mrs Steele.

-That's what I'm talking about!

Jazz then went down to the property and placed a hidden camera pointing at the gate's security key pad.

And then he waited.

Later that day, a wealthy couple turn up for a booked house viewing.

-It's actually Sam and Alex.

-Hi. Liz. Nice to meet you. You OK?

They're posing as potential buyers.

As far as this estate agent is concerned,

they just want to have a good look around the property.

My work's moved me up here. It's a temporary move up here

which might be permanent, but we'll see.

I've been to Edinburgh before, a couple of times.

Sam heads upstairs with the agent, to see the bedrooms.

-Is this the main bedroom?

-Yes.

Her job is actually to keep him busy.

Wow, this has got nice wardrobe space in here.

Whilst Alex opens the back door and lets in a young man waiting in the bushes.

Now Jazz needs to hide inside the house.

With Jazz in position, Alex quickly winds up the tour.

We've got to shoot because I have to meet the guy from the office.

The agent is keen to point out all the mod cons of this remarkable property.

But he's wasting his breath.

Once Sam and Alex have left, the agent makes sure the place is secure.

But Jazz is still hiding inside.

Thanks to the hidden camera by the gate,

the hustlers now know the entry code.

That means Alex can let the team back into the grounds.

Jazz pops out from his hiding place under the stairs,

unlocks the front door from inside and it's scam on.

A few hidden cameras and lots of empty packing cases complete the preparations.

Time to hustle!

A couple of visitors turn up for a household sale of unwanted items.

This lady's here to buy a high-end plasma TV.

That makes her the mark.

Sam is playing the lady of the house, so she answers the door.

-Hi. Are you here for the telly?

-Yes.

-Come in.

The stunning house is now in a right state.

Boxes, bubble wrap and people all over the place.

We're packing. It's a bit hectic at the moment. Joe, will you get the telly for us?

Yeah, give me one sec. I'll just move this box.

The mark is in no doubt that Sam is in the process of moving out.

-This is the one you want, isn't it?

-Yes.

Removal man Jazz brings in the top-of-the-range 3D TV she's here to collect.

It's £500. Half the normal selling price.

-I'd give it to you for less, but...

-Sorry!

Jay, will you get that boxed up for me? Have you got the controls for it?

I do have the controls. They're in a separate box.

-I'll go to the van quickly and get it.

-It's in a separate box?

-Yeah. The van's only there.

-Sorry, he won't be long. Take a seat.

-I'll be a couple of minutes.

The TV's not much use without the remote.

Jazz thinks he's seen it in a packing box.

Meanwhile, the mark and her mate take a seat. A good time to take payment.

Could I get the money for the telly? I'll put this in the safe, OK?

Lawyer Paul is always happy to look after money, even if the safe is really his pocket!

Still, that's just peanuts compared to what the hustlers are really after.

Is it everything you're selling?

We've had loads of stuff. I'm selling everything, like for nothing

because I'm going back to London.

I've only been here about a year. My ex and I are just getting rid of it all.

So that's why she's selling her possessions off cheap.

There's clearly been a nasty break-up.

He's pulling boxes out. He'll be a few minutes. Sorry.

Jess is playing Sam's best mate.

And she's got bad news.

A car has just pulled into the driveway.

-Liz, did you know Ian was coming here? He's here now.

-Ian?

-Yeah.

What's he doing here? He's not allowed here. Sorry!

It's the horrible ex-husband.

It's my house! BLEEP

Sorry, girls. This is the ex!

This could get awkward. It's Alex and he's here to cause a scene.

-What are you doing here?

-It's still technically my house.

-You're not allowed here.

-I just want to pick a few things up.

-Everything's gone. It's packed.

-Listen, there's no need to make a problem.

-You're going to upset her again.

-I'm not upsetting anybody. I want to pick up the TV and go.

-The TV's sold.

-Nice to see you.

-The TV's sold, Ian. Everything's being sold.

Hang on a minute. Can I speak to you outside?

-Sorry.

-You OK?

-Yeah.

He's definitely not getting that TV because it now belongs to the mark.

It's sold. It's mine to sell. It's gone.

Alex and Sam make sure the mark can hear every word of their ex-lovers' spat.

Do what the hell you want, but we had a deal.

I've only just calmed her down.

The TV is mine to sell, so is the house. Everything is.

-You're not meant to be here.

-Do you know what?

-Let me see what I can do.

-I'm asking you to leave.

-Listen!

-Put your hands on me again and we'll carry you out!

-I'm going to take the car. I'm taking the car...

-Move!

-The car's not yours.

-The car's mine to sell. That is my car!

You never drove that car. You drove it once!

Sounds like Sam's got the right to sell whatever she chooses as part of the divorce,

including his car, whether Alex likes it or not.

I'm really sorry about this, girls.

-That has always been my car. You can have everything else.

-It isn't your car.

-It is my car!

And to throw the cat amongst the pigeons, here's the new girlfriend!

-Polly.

-I've got my hair appointment.

-What are YOU doing here?

Oh, the new girlfriend's here now!

The girls go to watch the fireworks!

-It's my car to sell. And why are you here?

-I'm supporting my boyfriend.

Get her off here! She's absolutely vile!

I'm coming back in an hour and I'm picking up that car!

God, are you OK?

-Ridiculous.

-I know.

-BLEEP.

-Are you OK? Why is he even here?

-Why did he bring her here?

I'm so sorry. I'm really embarrassed about that.

-God!

-Are you OK?

-I'm shaking.

-Why was she here?

-She just got out of the car. I'm sorry about this.

The mark's heard enough squabbling. She wants her remote so she can get out of here.

-I need to sell that car.

-Was he after the car?

-I'll make sure he doesn't come again.

-You need to get rid of that car.

-Do you want me to get somebody?

-Do you want a car, £50?

Can I sell the car for 50 quid?

Can I seriously sell that car for next to nothing so he gets nothing for it?

You can't sell it for £50. You have to sell it for at least 80% of its value.

-At least five grand.

-You can buy it!

-I can't.

-It's the only thing that'll keep me in contact with him.

So I want to sell it for nothing.

Then that'll really get him for coming here. He's screwed.

Why don't you go have a glass of juice?

I'm amazed he brought that new girl along.

Jess leads Sam away to calm her down,

leaving behind lawyer Paul.

This is a particularly nasty break-up.

Do you want to buy a car?

She just wants her remote control, not an expensive car.

Although...

-It is an Aston Martin.

-What's the engine size on that?

Well, it's a DB9, so something like 480 horsepower. She'll sell it to you for the mere minimum.

She's sold the house for peanuts.

She won't give him a penny. Would you be interested in the car?

I ask you seriously, because if you are, I can wrap it up for her today.

She's actually thinking about it.

Obviously you'd want to be paid today? £3,000 I can come up with.

Could you do five?

-Do you want a look at the car?

-Yes.

No harm in taking a look at the car. Though she hasn't forgotten about the TV.

I'll sort him out, don't worry!

The mark can't believe she's being offered a 60-grand car for a fraction of its market value.

Come and have a quick look, girls.

Paul leads her out to look at the motor.

Good luck to you. It breaks my heart I can't buy it myself, to be honest.

Here's what I'd do for you. I'd make sure all the paperwork and everything is completely done.

Have a seat. I'll let you guys take it for a test drive in a bit.

It doesn't look like the mark needs much more convincing.

But Paul turns up the heat.

This is a very high-end sports car. This is James Bond's car.

If you sell it, you'll get 60 grand.

It finally dawns on the mark that Paul is being serious.

For five grand, she can't afford not to buy it.

It breaks my heart I can't buy it myself.

I'll get him to sort out your remote control, pack it up for you. Come back in 20 minutes

and I'll have the paperwork ready.

Paul arranges for the mark to come back later with the cash to pick up the car.

And her TV, of course!

But if someone offers you a brand-new Aston Martin for five grand,

you should really stop and think.

When hustlers go out, they don't take money.

They take prop bets.

The proposition bet has only one rule,

and that's that the hustler always wins.

-I've got another challenge. Up for it?

-Yes.

If you lose, you buy everyone a drink. If you win, I buy you a drink.

I have four coins here.

This is the starting position and I want you to end it with all the coins in a row.

-Right.

-OK? It's not that simple.

You can only move one coin at a time.

And it has to end touching two.

Move them as often as you want, but it has to touch two each time you move it.

So to win the bet, Holly's new pals have to go from this...

to this.

But they can only move one coin at a time and it has to end up touching two other coins.

Try and get them in a straight line.

-I can only move one?

-One at a time.

Yep.

That's good. You just played it in a reverse position!

-Fair enough.

-Do you want a go?

-Just one at a time?

-One at a time, yes.

I think I'm just repeating what he did!

-Shall I show you? If I do, you'll all buy me a drink?

-Yes.

-OK.

Whee!

Holly never said the coins couldn't be separated.

One, two, three, four moves

equal one free drink!

-I will have a whisky and Coke, please.

-Oh, OK, then!

-Thank you!

One mark, four bags.

Five minutes later, one mark, no bags!

An indoor shopping plaza.

Looks like hustler Polly is on the hunt for a mark in The Sniff.

This guy's got a lot of bags with him, making him a perfect potential mark.

Polly's looking a little strained.

Like she's bursting to be somewhere else!

-Excuse me. Could you do me a favour? I want to pop to the bathroom. Can you look after my bags?

-OK.

Thank you. I won't be long.

The mark's already looking after several bags.

What difference will a couple more make?

The one garish bag stands out from the rest of the luggage.

But it's nothing compared to the eye-watering fluorescent jackets

at the other side of the plaza.

It's Alex and Paul. They've brought along a special little friend.

The mark clocks the unusual security officers trolling the plaza.

Seems like they're checking for suspicious packages.

They're slowly closing in on this unfortunate chap.

Good girl. Good girl!

Paul's sniffer dog seems to have picked up a scent from one of Polly's bags.

Search. Search.

-Excuse me, is this your bag?

-No.

-These are not your bags?

-These two aren't. There's a lady just gone to the toilet.

She asked me to watch them for a second.

She was a stranger.

The mark tries to explain the bag wasn't his

as Alex checks it with his metal detector.

-I'd check it out if I were you.

-Do you mind?

-Which of these are yours?

-That and that.

-These are all yours?

-We need to quickly run a swab test on these,

if that's all right. Because she's picked up a scent on one bag,

-we'll have to swipe all of them, if that's OK.

-Yes.

-A quick swab.

Can you come with me?

-Oh, God, that's heavy. Just takes a couple of minutes.

-Sure.

It'll take two seconds. If you'll accompany me, that's fine.

-Are you with the person whose bag this is?

-No. She was a stranger, sitting over there.

-What did she look like?

-Pretty, dark hair, tanned skin.

-OK. Do you want to wait here in case she comes back?

-I'll keep an eye out.

If she picks up a scent, we've got to swab all the bags. Mostly it's...

The thing is, I've got to take your word for it, don't I?

I've got to do my job.

He's got no choice but to follow the security guards to a van outside.

Just about to do the swab now.

Could you ask the gentleman to come back in? There's a girl here. I want to know if it's her bag.

OK, I'll send the gentleman back. OK.

I'll swipe these. I think the girl's shown up. He wants you to identify her.

Just leave these with me. I'll bring them back in.

Sounds like Paul's found the owner of the bags.

So the mark heads back in to identify her, leaving Alex to continue his checks.

-Is this the lady over here?

-Um... I can't remember.

Is that your... No?

-'They all seem fine.'

-Sorry.

Are you bringing them back in?

'All negative. Tell the gentleman to wait for me there. I'll bring them back in.'

He'll bring them back in.

The bags have got the all-clear. The mark stays put whilst Paul goes off to get them for him.

He's done enough heavy lifting for one day.

The mark decides to lend a hand after all and also heads outside.

But by the time he reaches the door, it's much, much too late.

BLEEP

So how did they do it?

I won't be long. Cheers. Thank you.

Holly picked a particularly garish bag so the boys could spot it from a distance.

Oo-oo! Done it!

Once she'd asked the mark to look after it, she hid in the van whilst the dog squad went to work.

Paul led his canine friend over to the mark.

Right on cue, it started sniffing at Polly's bag.

That's because it was smeared with dog food before the scam.

The dog and the outfits had the mark totally convinced

he was dealing with bona fide security officers.

Once Alex had the mark and the bags at the van,

the radio call from Paul was just an excuse to get him back inside

and away from the bags.

'All negative. Tell the gentleman to wait and I'll bring them back in.'

Then, once Paul had made his excuses,

the hustlers, the dog and the bags were out of there.

We're all used to a heightened level of security these days.

If someone in a uniform asks us to do something, most of the time we comply.

Unfortunately, around the world,

hustlers abuse this to help them lie, cheat and steal.

Always check the credentials of anybody claiming to be in authority.

Whatever you do, never allow yourself to be separated from your bags.

Let them out of your sight for one minute and you may never see them again.

Earlier, Essex girl Sam Faiers helped the hustlers convince this mark

she had walked into a full-scale domestic.

Take Ian away.

She only came to buy a TV, but has now been offered a 60-grand luxury car

for a fraction of the price. It's too good to be true

in A Woman Scorned, Part 2.

Later that day, the mark returns to the house to pay for her shiny new car.

Hi! Sorry, come in.

I'm really sorry about earlier. I feel really embarrassed. Come through.

Sam leads the mark into the kitchen, where Paul has laid out all the paperwork.

Everything's good. How are you? Did you go to the coffee place?

No, we just went for a walk.

OK. Just a couple of details. This registration will come off the car.

-All the other paperwork is...

-It's in the car.

-The log book's in the car?

-It's all in there.

-Great.

-There won't be any problems.

-OK?

So, who's got the money?

Paul is suggesting they pay for the car first, then go for a test drive.

But it's all moving a bit too fast for the mark.

I'd rather do the paperwork first, then give you the money.

You know how I feel? I want to do this quickly.

Yes, but I want you to run the car and re-fill that in if you change your mind.

-I won't change my mind, regardless of...

-Let's do it that way anyway.

Do the money and we'll take this with us.

I am a lawyer, it is my, unfortunately...

I'm not, honestly, I'd just rather sign the paper first before I get in the car.

Tell you what, wait right here.

-I don't know anything about cars, so don't ask me!

-I've bought plenty.

Despite Paul's best efforts, the mark is not handing over £5,000 without a signature on the document.

-Registered keeper.

-Where do I sign?

-Sign it right here.

Sign here and I'll let you take that with you so you're covered.

Done.

-This must be so exciting for you!

-Yeah.

Paul countersigns the document to complete the deal and the car is now officially hers.

And there's five grand.

-Do you want me to...

-Put that in the safe and then close the door. I'll be right up.

Formalities complete, Paul leads the mark outside to test-drive her brand-new car.

Is your car parked in the drive?

And best not forget that plasma TV she's already paid for!

-Grab that other box, if you don't mind.

-Yep.

Open it up, sit inside. I'll go get the cover note for the insurance.

Paul remembers the insurance document. They can't drive without it.

Something's not right with the keys.

The car's not opening.

But here comes someone new that the mark hasn't seen before.

And he's also here for a car.

In fact, he's here for the same car.

She heads back to the house, but nobody's answering.

The man's been sent by his boss from a luxury car hire company

to pick up their one-day rental.

DOORBELL

DOORBELL ECHOES

The lights aren't on and there's nobody home.

That's because the hustlers are long gone

by the back exit.

The car is also gone. The mark is left holding a £5,000 set of useless car keys.

Still, at least she's got that bargain of a plasma TV.

Oh, my God, it's rigged!

He sold us this TV for £500 and it's not a TV!

And I've paid £5,000 for an Aston Martin car

which isn't an Aston Martin. It was a hired shot.

Don't get fooled that it's cheap, "Oh, I'll get it." You'll lose what you've got.

Oh, my God, I can't believe that I've conned somebody!

Today there was parts of me where I felt really bad for them.

To actually do it and rob these people blind, all ages as well, I think it's terrible.

We staged quite a scheme for the mark in this scam

and the gradual ramping up of pressure

is all designed to make her jump at the amazing opportunity about to be made.

Stop and think. Did you expect to be buying a luxury car for £5,000

when you woke up this morning? Probably not.

This is a classic case of something being too good to be true.

If you want to know more about how this show is made,

go to:

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