Episode 9 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 whole lot.

They've carried out close to 500 scams

and stolen over £1,000,000.

And now, they're back for an eleventh series.

With new recruits...

Their job...

to expose the tricks of the criminal's trade,

so that you don't get scammed.

On tonight's show...

Guest hustler Konnie Huq has fun undercover.

LAUGHTER

You and I are going to take part in a drinking game.

-Paul calls time for free drinks.

-Take your time.

You buying this for yourself, love?

And Alex turns wheeler dealer for Jess.

-You know anything about cars?

-Not really.

The hustlers have invited celebrity friends

to see if they can cut it as con artists.

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

and there are no dress rehearsals.

So, this is sink or swim.

Today's guest hustler is ex-Blue Peter and X Factor presenter

Konnie Huq.

I'm not sure if I've got what it takes to be a hustler.

Time will tell. This is my chance to do a bit of deception.

You have to be really confident to be a hustler.

And it's a certain type of confidence and,

although I am confident in many ways, I don't know whether,

under that kind of pressure and in that situation, I might cave.

Konnie's been dropped off at a beautiful Scottish castle,

where she's been told she'll get her hustle briefing.

-Oh, hello.

-Welcome to our humble abode.

-Very humble(!)

-What do you think? Have a seat.

I like what you've done with the place.

-Yeah, we've been working on it for a while.

-Nice.

-We've actually only got the place for a few hours.

-Oh, shame.

We're arranging a wedding,

at least, that's the story we've told them.

But, in actual fact,

we're going to give someone the opportunity of a lifetime.

-Intriguing.

-Sounds good.

So, would you, would you buy a castle like this from us?

-It depends on the price.

-Well, it's a very good price.

And they may take it or they may not, but to help them along,

we're going to give them the chance to more than double their money

right away. Sounds simple, right?

-Kind of.

-Yeah. Well, it's going to be up to you to convince them.

-So, let's go and meet the rest of the guys.

-OK.

So, Konnie's briefed, the sting's on and the mark's on his way in...

This castle might be pretty to look at,

but there seems to be a rather ugly scene brewing outside.

I made it very, very clear that you had to be...

Looks like there's a bit of a barney going on

with that nice, young couple.

Listen, it's about where the money comes from

and I made that clear to you.

It comes from my pocket to your pocket.

It's Paul, rowing with Polly and fake sheikh Jazz,

who seems to have turned his acting skills up to 11.

-I don't understand, it's a problem for you.

-It's a problem for you...

-Babe, come on, let's just go.

-..cos I won't do business with you, OK?

There we go.

-Let's just go. I don't even like Wales.

-Scotland.

-Same thing.

And here's some more people.

It's Alex arriving with another couple.

This guy doesn't know it yet, but he's today's mark.

-Please, come on in.

-Are you sure? You don't want us to...

Ah, they're going, they're not coming back.

Thank you.

Konnie's first role in today's scam is playing

the wealthy couple's chauffeur.

And she whisks them off as Alex gives the mark

a quick tour of the castle.

Paul's actually playing the laird of the manor,

the owner of the property.

He's selling off timeshare weeks at the castle

and this guy's come to buy.

Through here, there's a fully-equipped gym.

Tour over, it's into the summer room for tea and a chat about the deal.

Thank you for coming over. Just appreciate your interest.

We didn't expect to be coming straight into a battle at the castle.

Oh, well, you know, I was planning on running up to the battlements

and firing some arrows to see them off.

Four months of negotiations and talking

and all he does is talk and, of course, at the end of the day,

I've just found out that he was planning to put all this

through his company.

-Ah.

-Which doesn't... You know. Unfortunately...

Paul explains that wealthy businessman Jazz was also here

to buy a timeshare, but Paul's thrown him out

because he wanted to do the deal through his company.

And Paul is insistent that he only deals with individuals.

You are representing yourselves or, you know,

-you're not representing a big company or anything like that?

-No.

My motivation, very, very simple, I tell this to everybody.

I have six months. By filling all six months...

I get what I need.

Ian's company takes care of everything.

And, you know, I leave the home in the condition

that I expect to find it, but, essentially,

the sooner I get my six months

for the next five years, the sooner I can relax for five years.

It's a lovely property, but it does require, you know,

a lot of care and attention just to keep things exactly right.

This is quite a pad. It costs a bomb to keep it looking this good.

So, Paul explains he uses the extra cash to keep his bills down.

The two weeks which have just become available were, probably,

amongst the most desirable because it's the last week of July

and the first of August.

I mean, I think the engagement is two weeks for five years.

That's usually what we agree with.

The 5,000 is, I'm reliably assured, an absolute steal for five years.

We could charge up to six, seven grand for a week in this place

with all the facilities.

Paul and Alex tag-team as they pitch the deal to the mark.

Paul's asking for just £5,000 for two weeks for the next five years,

when they could get much, much more.

Sounds like a bargain.

-I do need to make a couple of phone calls.

-No, no, that's fine.

-You can go off, I'll handle everything.

-Right, OK.

-Listen, really, very, very nice to meet you.

-Thank you.

Paul's job's done for now. He's convinced the mark he's the owner.

And that his motive for selling the timeshare

is to help with the castle's upkeep.

It's now time to hammer out the details.

And it sounds like Alex has a further offer for the mark

that might sweeten the deal.

The thing I wanted to bring up and,

it's also something that we do also with our clients,

is we, sort of, look at investment opportunities as well.

The altercation that we saw outside means two weeks

have become available and they are very, very good weeks.

As explained to you, he cannot let out to corporates.

But what he is happy to do is let corporates sublet

off private individuals. Do you see what I mean?

So, I get it, as a private individual,

and a company comes to me and says,

"That week that you've got, can we have it? And we'll pay you X amount."

Alex is explaining that he has a way for the mark

to not only rent the castle for himself,

but also, to make a big, fat profit on the side.

These two weeks that have become available,

which I'm thinking for yourselves,

is hotly, sort of, pursued by one of the companies

that I showed around earlier today.

If you would be interested in these two weeks,

I can put you in contact with them.

I would recommend you listen to their offer

because this could, all of a sudden, be a very good investment for you.

So, Alex has a corporate client desperate to secure a week

at the castle and, handily, they're just a few miles away.

To find out more, if the mark is willing to come with him now

to meet them and listen to their offer,

it could really be worth his while.

Give me one minute.

Let me just call them because I don't want to be getting everybody excited.

Alex pretends to put a call through to his clients

to make sure they're still around.

Cheers. They haven't left yet, so we can just quickly go back there

and meet them there, if that's OK?

-Right.

-And then, they can speak directly to you.

And then... Is that OK?

The mark's in luck, they're having lunch at a local restaurant

and they agree to go and hear what's on offer.

And here's Paul, back to find out what progress has been made.

People from TRH International are still here.

So, I thought it would only be prudent for me

to mention that there might be a good business opportunity.

I would like them to have a quick word.

-If we can, we can do everything today.

-All right.

The mark hasn't signed on the dotted line yet.

But Alex's carrot of a very lucrative sublease

has the mark's attention.

TRH Estates executives are already at the bar.

Of course, it's Jess and Konnie playing pushy corporate-types.

If the mark recognises TV presenter Konnie, the scam's off.

Alex arrives with his new client in tow and introduces him to Konnie.

-Pleased to meet you.

-But it's all fine, he doesn't recognise her.

So, let's get down to business.

We want, yeah, the first of those two weeks.

Yeah, the last week of July,

which was the week that I know you were looking for.

Basically, we've got the week before.

So, we need two weeks that are subsequent.

We seek out properties for clients

for multinational companies and conglomerates.

They're flying from halfway around the world,

we can't just have them stay there for two or three days.

We have to block it out and then, it's up to our clients

how long they use them for, depending on their itineraries.

Konnie and Jess lay it on thick.

Turns out, they're desperate to secure the exact week

the mark is being offered in his deal.

These girls know exactly what they want

and how they're going to get it.

I mean, I believe that the funds that you have available

are quite generous?

They're quite substantial, yeah.

This is quite a big company,

they'd be looking for an in for the five years

and they'd be looking at paying quite a large sum of 20,000,

but that's for the whole...

-Five years.

-Yeah.

So, TRH Estates are willing to pay

a whopping £20,000 for the five-year sublease of one week's rental.

The mark is being asked to pay only £5,000 for two weeks.

So, he's onto a massive £15,000 profit straight away.

Ker-ching.

Absolutely, the only thing I know is

that Rob would want to settle this now.

But although it sounds like the deal of a lifetime,

the mark is asking for a cooling off period to be built in,

before he even thinks about doing the deal.

Would you be happy, if there's a cooling off period,

-to give the cheque over today?

-Yeah.

We can hand over and, you know, you can cash that cheque

as and when you decide that you've had your cooling off period.

Alex quickly agrees to a week's thinking time,

but is keen to do the paperwork today.

Like any good salesman,

Alex puts the mark under pressure to take the offer now or lose it.

It's just a question of just grabbing it, grabbing that opportunity today,

rather than, sort of, waiting any longer.

So, the mark must agree to close the deal now, or the scam's off.

Keep watching to find out if the mark will be convinced

by the deal of the century.

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.

-Do you drink beer?

-Yeah.

-You've heard of it?

I've heard of it, yeah.

So, you and I are going to take part in a drinking game.

Only one beer, not too dangerous. It's very simple.

I bet I can drink my beer before you can drink yours,

-even if I give you a head start.

-Right, OK.

-If I give you one minute, would that be enough?

-All right.

If you can't do it, you buy all the drinks.

-And if you can, I buy all the drinks.

-Right.

-Now, just so we're sure, OK, that's real beer, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Definitely real beer, all right?

-OK.

So, Paul is betting that his new friend can't finish drinking a beer

before he polishes his off.

In fact, he's so confident,

he's even giving him a one-minute head start.

-All right, would you accept that bet?

-Yes.

So, you have to drink yours before I drink mine.

It's only fair to say cheers.

Look at that.

Ah, you...

LAUGHTER

-That is frozen solid.

-How did you do that?

-Isn't that cool?

To win the bet, Paul put his mate's bottle in the freezer for an hour.

The beer inside was below zero, but still liquid.

A sharp tap made the bubbles expand and the beer freeze right up.

Science, innit?

Take your time. I will.

Jess is thinking about buying a car.

So, she's in Glasgow to do a test drive,

but there seems to have been a bit of a mix-up

because this guy is booked in for the same time as Jess

and that makes him the mark in...

I know, the thing is I've never done a test drive either.

There's no sign of the car or the seller.

So, Jess and her new friend have a chat while they wait.

I don't think we'll have to worry about that.

Jess seems really nervous at the prospect of taking a test drive.

At least, that's what she wants the mark to think.

I'm very excited about today, new car. I hope he's going to hurry up.

Have we got the right time?

-He's just in his meeting, he's running five minutes late.

-Oh.

It's nice. I didn't expect to meet someone like yourself.

Oh, that's so nice.

And he seems only too happy to put the pretty, young lady at her ease.

There he is now.

Here's the car. And it's a wee cracker.

A cool MX-5 convertible. Very Jess.

The mark and Jess head out to meet the owner. And what do you know?

It's Alex looking alarmingly like a boy racer.

-You buying this for yourself, love?

-Yeah.

Why? Why do you say it like that?

-Just saying, if you know anything about cars or...

-Not really.

All right.

1.8.

It's injected, but this, as you can see here, it's the Dakar edition.

So, you even get a plate, it's number 352 out of 400. Good nick.

Alex is directing all his bad chat at the mark,

blatantly ignoring Jess.

Full service and stuff. I've got all the documents in it.

-Am I going too fast for you?

-No.

-Are you getting it all?

-That's a bit rude.

But, I tell you what, why don't I let this lady go for a little drive.

Is that all right for you?

I left my scarf, my brolly in there,

-so I'm going to go back in and get that, if that's OK.

-Yeah.

Can you come back in with me?

Jess asks the mark to come back inside with her

as Alex moves the car to the front door.

Hurry up, otherwise we're leaving him waiting.

Yeah, all right. Cheers.

-Oh, it's got an alarm as well.

-Yeah, well done, love.

BEEP

He's so rude.

"You keeping up with me, darling?"

No.

Can I ask you a really big favour?

I don't want to take this money in that car with him,

would you mind holding onto it?

-As long as you trust me.

-I'm coming back. Hopefully.

If you trust me, that's fine by me.

Jess really isn't happy about taking her cash out in a car

with some dodgy geezer in a shell suit.

-Maybe the mark can help?

-Have you got your money with you?

Could you put your money in with my money, then we can keep it together.

I'm not having that.

You'll look after it if you put your money in.

I'll put it in the bag and you can keep my bag.

Jess is suggesting the mark puts all his money

in her envelope of cash - that way she knows it'll be safe.

You can have my mobile phone if that... My watch,

-if that'll make you feel better.

-Oh, please.

-Sorry.

I want you to look after it.

You'll look after it if you put your money in here,

then I'll put it in the bag, then you can keep my whole bag. Do you mind?

Jess's suggestion is nuts,

but this guy, so enchanted by her apparent honesty,

drops his guard

and hands over 1,500 quid.

Thank you so much. Will you look after my handbag for me?

Jess puts the envelope of cash into her bag and hands it to the mark.

-Thank you very much.

-I'm going to look very stylish, aren't I?

-OK.

Actually, hang on, let me take my phone.

BEEP Get my keys. In fact, can you just take the envelope?

You can take the rest. I promise I will be here.

-Can you put it somewhere really safe?

-I'm a 35-year-old man.

Thank you so much.

Oh, my God, I'm going to have so much fun driving this.

The mark now has the envelope, containing his and Jess's money.

I'll see you in a bit.

Jess trots off to do her test drive, leaving the mark somewhat bemused.

Women drivers, eh?

Jess gets in the passenger side. That's not how you do a test drive.

Alex floors it.

But Alex and Jess are only seconds away,

before the mark becomes suspicious and decides to check that envelope.

He's been scammed.

But what really happened?

That's the real pocket.

Earlier, in the den, Polly doctored Jess's handbag

by fitting magnets to an inside pocket.

Jazz stuffed fake notes into an envelope, identical to the one

Jess had her cash in, and this was already hidden in the bag.

When Jess put the envelope, full of hers and the mark's cash

into her bag, she stuffed it into the inside pocket,

making sure the magnets snapped tight, concealing the stash.

The mark then picked the duplicate envelope out of her bag,

leaving the cash-filled one hidden in the lining.

I didn't want to give her the money. I didn't.

I didn't want to.

The thing that got me was when she gave me the envelope,

that was the kicker, to be honest.

That was the bit that made me trust her.

I have a lot of bills in my life

and £1,500 would take care of all those bills, really.

God, I cry when I lose 20 quid down the back of the sofa,

never mind £1,500 somewhere else, you know what I mean?

Con artists are experts at manipulating people.

It's natural to want to help a damsel in distress,

but you need to be especially careful when money is involved.

There's never any reason why you should put your money in an envelope

with somebody else's for safekeeping.

The best place to keep your cash is out of sight and in your own pocket.

Earlier today, guest hustler Konnie Huq tried to help convince a mark

that he could net a massive £15,000 profit

by simply subletting one week of a two-week timeshare deal

he's thinking about buying at a fabulous Scottish castle.

And they'd be looking at paying 20,000.

On paper, this is a brilliant offer,

but the mark has still to make up his mind

whether or not to buy into the contract.

It seems like Alex's hard-nosed selling technique

could be giving him cold feet.

The only thing I know is that Rob would want to settle this now.

He's asking for a week's cooling off time to be built into the paperwork

and they've all come back to the castle

to discuss the options with owner Paul.

-So, you guys have met, which is...

-Yeah, we have.

-..quite nice.

Will he finally be able to persuade the mark to go for it, in...

..Part Two?

Now, you'll have to catch me up a little bit. Where are we?

We've had, we've all had a chat.

Kevin's fully aware of how this works,

but what I thought we would do is,

because I know you want to have peace of mind this weekend...

Yes.

..but also, Kevin, quite rightly, would also like a, sort of,

-a cooling off period as well.

-Course.

So, I am fully prepared to guarantee this cooling off period

with my company until end-of-business Friday.

Friday next week. Perfect.

So, Alex finally sets the mark's mind at rest

by agreeing to guarantee the mark's payments until next Friday,

after the cooling off period.

TRH Estates executive Konnie is willing to lease the week

from the mark immediately and will write a cheque for £20,000,

which the mark will be able to cash,

once he's happy with the legal details.

It's a win-win situation for the mark.

-Right, girls, get your cheque book out, come on.

-Well, this is great.

Yeah. See, I told you I was going to sort it out for you today.

I have to say I was... After today, I really thought I was,

I just was going to have to start this entire process again.

And that's £5,000 in crisp £20 notes.

-4,000. 5,000. Happy?

-Very, very happy.

Don't spend it all at once.

I'm going to put this in the safe.

Should I open a bottle of wine or put the kettle on?

-Which would you prefer?

-Put the kettle on.

-I'll put the kettle on.

-Would you ladies like a cup of tea or coffee?

Can I have a coffee, please?

OK, you always have to be awkward. Of course.

I'll put this in the safe, take me a few minutes. Excuse me.

Paul and Alex leave with the cash. This is the start of the getaway.

Paul is out. Next, it's Konnie.

Alex goes in to get her.

Konnie slips a cheque for £20,000 across the table to the mark.

It's the easiest and fastest cash he's ever made

and he can't quite believe his luck.

-Is this upstairs?

-Yes, it's upstairs. Let's go and have a look.

Konnie's off too.

This is fabulous, guys. Thank you ever so much.

The mark still can't believe he's holding that cheque for £20,000.

Next up, it's Jess's turn to scarper.

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

Hello. Nine o'clock.

Hello?

She appears to have a dodgy connection on her phone.

-Best step outside.

-Hello?

Probably about ten. Yeah.

Well, I mean, I'll just get back into the office at normal time.

The final hustler joins the rest of the team in the van

and they get away with an all too easy 5K.

Leaving the mark stunned by that fantastic deal

he's just completed.

But here's someone just about to burst the mark's bubble.

She looks official.

Hi.

Sorry, are you...

I didn't expect anybody to still be here.

Just done a deal with a chap called Rob who owns the property.

Signed up for a timeshare. Which we've just done.

Oh, this is a private house.

Sorry, this is a privately owned property.

The truth finally dawns.

Honestly, the owners are due back here in about ten minutes.

-He's been scammed.

-Give me two minutes.

How did the hustlers do it?

Earlier in the den, Jazz scoured the net for a suitable property

available to hire for private functions.

It's going to be for a wedding. Yes.

They booked a viewing and knocked up some convincing sales leaflets

and business cards for Alex, Jess and Konnie.

TRH Estates, I love it.

-From my pocket to your pocket.

-It's not your pocket!

It's your company's pocket!

A massive argument with Sheikh Jazz

and his squeeze Polly was staged to help convince the mark that

Paul would never sell to corporate clients.

The cooling-off period finally convinced the mark that he simply

couldn't lose out on this deal of a lifetime,

and he handed over his cash without even asking to see a contract.

It was all too easy.

These are well presented,

articulate people - but they're just the same as somebody

doing a dodgy job on your roof.

They're thieving just the same, just vanishing into thin air.

My co-hustlers were very good.

I believe that they are secretly crooks in another life.

I know how it feels when you just drop a £20 note somewhere.

You're like, "Oh, how annoying!"

When I was thinking about the poor guy realising that

£5,000 of his money had been taken in broad daylight, that's horrible.

This is actually a twist on the classic timeshare scam.

The mark thinks he's investing in a holiday rental,

and what's more, thinks he can make a nice little profit

by subletting it to a third party.

The victim in this case has been lulled into a false

sense of security by these splendid surroundings,

but you should never ever enter into this kind of transaction

without looking carefully at the contract

and paying in anything but cash.

Cash is not how this kind of business works. Don't do it.

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

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd