Hunting The Catfish Crime Gang
Documentary – BBC Three, BBC One, BBC iPlayer
Currently Streaming on BBC iPlayer and other streaming services around the world. Over 1.2 million views in the UK on the night of its television premiere.
Documentary Overview:
James Blake – a 30-year-old entrepreneur from Northern Ireland – was living the Insta-dream until someone scraped his accounts. Hundreds of fake profiles pop up all over the world claiming to be him.
As he sets out to try and hunt down the people doing it, James discovers a dark and utterly heartless modern-day crime wave where organised organised gangs are using the very latest technology to prey on our age-old desire for love, companionship and success, all to scam blameless victims out of money.
James’s attempt to find out more and get his online identity back takes him on an international journey, and he discovers that it’s not only those being conned who are the victims here – many of those carrying out the con are also suffering at the hands of the gangs behind this modern-day crime.
Contains themes of violence, human trafficking and more.
“James was genuinely relatable and down-to-earth, making for an outstanding documentary. A natural on camera and very easy to understand I enjoyed his presenting. Watching his journey and the incredible individuals he met, from renowned hacker Jim Browning to celebrity lawyer Paul Tweed, was captivating. The exposure to the massive issue of human trafficking and forced scamming was both eye-opening and heart-wrenching. I did not expect it. This documentary is exceptional, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.”
IMDB Review