The Real Hustle

For the American TV show, "Real Hustle", see Real Hustle.

The Real Hustle
File:Real hustle.JPG
Starring	Alexis Conran Paul Wilson Jessica-Jane Clement Rich Brittain
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	42 (as of 12 February 2008)
Production
Running time	29 mins
Original release
Network	BBC Three
Release	February 9 2006 – Present

The Real Hustle is a BBC television series made by Objective Productions demonstrating confidence and magic tricks, distraction scams and proposition bets performed on members of the public by presenters, Alexis Conran, Paul Wilson and Jessica-Jane Clement. Series 1-2 were narrated by Dean Lennox Kelly. From series 3 onwards it is narrated by Steven Jackson.

The show highlights ways in which money can be extracted, with a view to educating the viewer in how to avoid becoming a victim. Various terminology is explained, and the marks are fully informed of the cons/scams straight afterwards and repaid any money they'd lost. The show is a spin-off documentary of the BBC drama series Hustle.

Example of Scams

• A deposit is taken on a car multiple times from different people who turn up to buy it.
• A computer keyboard is replaced with one containing a key logger and bank details are obtained
• A skimmer device is placed on a cashpoint with a pinhole camera inside it records the information on the user's cards magnetic strip along with their PIN; the data is then put on the magnetic strip of an e-top up card which is used to withdraw money from the victim's account

Series 1

Episode 1

Air date: 9 Feb 2006
The team perform the classic monte scam at the beach, bag a £600 necklace from a jewellery shop, carry out a proposition bet in a pub using three pints and three shots, demonstrate the keylogger scam, reveal the art of the pickpocket using mustard dip, and perform the flat rental scam.

Episode 2

Air date: 16 Feb 2006
Scams include overcharging for worthless packages, a proposition bet involving a shot of whisky and a shot of water, selling forged lottery tickets, stealing a laptop from an airport, the window tap and conning aspiring popstars into handing over £500 to produce a tacky demo tape.

Episode 3

Air date: 23 Feb 2006
The team reveal how fake customs officers are committing daylight robbery by stripping unwitting travellers of their supposedly contraband possessions. Other scams include a pool proposition bet, the jam auction, a fairground scam, the art of the pickpocket with "mind my bag" and the wifi scam.

Episode 4

Air date: 2 Mar 2006
The team trick a barman into paying a reward for a supposedly valuable ring using "the honeytrap" in the ring reward rip-off. Then they con punters at a car-boot sale into buying worthless scraps of paper, perform a proposition bet in a cafe, show the postman scam in the art of the pickpocket and deceive three professional poker players from The Hendon Mob.

Episode 5

Air date: 9 Mar 2006
The hustlers sell a hire car over and over again. They also show the process involved in duplicating bank cards, the ease with which counterfeit notes can be used and how `blue-jacking' phones brings dividends.

Episode 6

Air date: 16 Mar 2006
The team claim compensation for damaged goods after orchestrating an accident, use other people's phones to call premium-rate lines, and make unsuspecting drivers pay for false parking tickets.

Episode 7

Air date: 23 Mar 2006
They obtain credit cards in a victim's name just from items found in rubbish bins, and confuse shopkeepers into giving them too much change.

Episode 8

Air date: 30 Mar 2006
The Psychic Scam shows how a hustler can cheat you with fake psychic powers, a demonstration of rigged dice game, a sneaky bar bet, a pool hustle and a romp through the rules of the real hustle - what we have learned throughout the series.

Series 2

Episode 1

Air date: 7 Sept 2006
The team con a delivery man into giving them his goods, make sure a couple of people in a cafe overhear a phone conversation about an expensive plate, a bar proposition bet involving not touching a drink and getting someone to buy a car before making off with the car and the cash.

Episode 2

Air date: 14 Sept 2006
A proposition bet involves the circumference of a beer glass being longer than its height. Stealing a victim's bag and then obtaining her PIN via a fake customer service line. Stealing unattended purses with a hollow dummy handbag.

Episode 3

Air date: 21 Sept 2006
How to steal someone's car by pretending to be a valet parking service, pretending to have an injured leg so as to steal watches, a proposition bet where you lift a shot glass using two coins, a shop selling hugely marked up beauty products and a waitress skimming credit cards.

Episode 4

Air date: 28 Sept 2006

Episode 5

Air date: 5 Oct 2006
How to steal a car with a clever bit of role playing and how a mock auction can con members of the public into buying cheap goods.

Episode 6

Air date: 12 Oct 2006
How to con members of the public into giving away credit card details via a fake charity scratch card.

Episode 7

Air date: 19 Oct 2006
Laptop memory upgrade con, picking pockets in a cafe, best of three coin toss con, hacking wireless network and selling cheap knives with an infomercial.

Episode 8

Air date: 26 Oct 2006
Paul, Alex and Jess set up an exclusive fashion store, but what their customers don't realise is that their vintage purchases are just worthless second hand clothes. Alex works his charms as a fake waiter and Paul dupes another punter into buying him a free drink. One woman learns never to let bogus workmen into her house and the Hustlers expose an ATM scam that could leave your bank account empty.

Episode 9

Air date: 2 Nov 2006
This episode uncovers a car clamping scam that could leave you £50 out of pocket. The hustlers show us how simple it is to sell non-organic produce as organic with a marked up price, and Paul shows us how easy it is to con the public out of their cash in an origami scam that leaves you with a worthless £10 note.

Episode 10

Air date: 9 Nov 2006
Alex and Paul set up a market stall that sells fake showbiz memorabilia and dodgy autographs, while Jess sells non-existent bus tour vouchers to unsuspecting tourists. Plus, three ways you could be short-changed after buying something.

Series 3

Episode 1

Air date: 15 Mar 2007
Alex and Paul sell games consoles at cheap prices to get some lads to give them their cash. Also Jess and Alex use a hotel to steal someone's credit card details just by overhearing their name and room number.

Episode 2

Air date: 22 Mar 2007
Alex drops a wallet full of Euros in the Drop Swindle. Jess fills a bag with leaflets in the tourist information centre and sells them to marks as discount packs. Paul gets free drinks by putting a 10p through a hole in a £10 note which only seems large enough for a 5p. Alex pretends to be a concierge and makes off with luggage outside a hotel. Alex and Paul get a dog from the dog's home and sell it for £200.

Episode 3

Air date: 29 Mar 2007
Jess cons people into giving her money in a pub by posing as a barmaid. Paul gets a neighbouring table to pay for his bill in a restaurant. Alex wins a proposition bet involving a £20 note and a beer bottle. Jess signs up unsuspecting passers-by to an expensive text message service. Paul and Alex win big by stacking the deck in a game of drunken poker.

Episode 4

Air date: 5 April 2007
Paul accidentally overpays for a purchase in an antique shop with his last cheque. He asks for the change in cash, but of course, the cheque is going to bounce. Alex reconfigures mobiles phones causing them to ring premium phone lines belonging to the hustlers. Paul wins a proposition bet involving a chain and a ring. Paul and Alex try their luck at backgammon with controlled dice shots and hustling techniques. Jess walks into a high street computing store to steal expensive software off of the display Macintosh computers.

Episode 5

Air date: 12 April 2007
The hustlers demonstrate pickpocketing techniques while crossing the road. Paul sells an envelope of worthless newspaper to some students, fooling them that it is full of cash. Jess wins a proposition bet involving hands and elbows. Paul and Alex demonstrate extreme social compliance by posing as policeman investigating suspected stolen goods, only to steal the goods themselves. They also use mis-spotted and loaded dice to scam other gamblers in a casino.

Episode 6

Air date: 19 April 2007
Alex and Jess fake an argument in a jeweller's shop allowing Paul to use sleight of hand to steal an expensive watch. Alex cons restaurants by pretending his tie was stained with wine, then increases the amount written on the cheques. Alex wins a proposition bet with a pedantic definition of the phrase "in thirty seconds". Paul and Alex demonstrate social compliance by posing as police officers. Alex and Paul use past posting to rip-off a roulette wheel.

Episode 7

Air date: 26 April 2007
Paul and Alex pose as gas installers and rip off unsuspecting householders. Jess hacks into a cash machine to double her money. Paul wins a proposition bet involving a saucer of liquid and some matches. All three hustlers get a free lunch with an elaborate series of coordinated scams against a restaurant. Paul and Alex use memory, observational, and mathematical techniques to win at Blackjack.

Episode 8

Air date: 3 May 2007
Paul and Alex sell dodgy camcorders from a white van to unsuspecting members of the public. The gang con a pub into letting them take away a fruit machine in plain sight. Jess wins a proposition bet involving three stacks of 10p coins. Alex, posing as a respectable restaurant owner, sells one bottle of cheap wine for £240. Alex and Paul steal chips from other players in a casino.

Series 4

Episode 1

Air date: 30 July 2007
Alex and Jess rob a hotel room by posing as hotel employees. Jess and Paul pretend to be from a film crew, ask a mark if they can rent his car as a prop, and drive off right in front of him. Jess wins a proposition bet using three full and three empty shot glasses, then scams herself a free beauty session. The hustlers head to Ibiza to fool holidaymakers into parting with their money for some worthless purses.

Episode 2

Air date: 6 August 2007
Alex and Jess empty a house by faking a security survey and a prize draw; in Ibiza, the team sell fake jewels; Paul wins a proposition bet involving money and your third finger; Alex swaps the padlock from a fitness club attendee and clears out his locker; and the hustlers sell bogus miracle fat-busting products.

Episode 3

Air date: 13 August 2007
The hustlers sell a fake device which supposedly adds credit to an Oyster Card, cheat in 3 card brag by marking cards and using reflections, win a proposition bet trying to knock a 10p piece of your forehead, demonstrate pickpocketing using distraction techniques, and use police costumes to sell advertising in a fake magazine.

Episode 4

Air Date: 20 August 2007
The hustlers pass counterfeit cash by previously handing shops a pen that supposedly detects counterfeit notes; demonstrate scams that a bartender can pull; get people to hand over their bank details in applying for a gym that will never be built; and show you how hustlers can cheat at the card game Gin. The proposition bet involves balancing a wine glass upright over a further two wine glasses, while none of them touch.

Episode 5

Air Date: 27 August 2007
The gang sell a car but keep a spare set of keys to steal it back; install a fake cash machine to duplicate the cards and PINs of unsuspecting passers-by; win a proposition bet involving listing words without the letters A, B, C, J, K and M; go undercover as recruitment consultants but the only thing they're making a career out of is identity theft; and demonstrate electronic devices to help beat the casino.

Episode 6

Air Date: 3 September 2007
The gang pull off an escrow scan by pretending to be a trustworthy pub landlord; manage to persuade a couple to give them £200 for some worthless vouchers in the pretense of a prize draw; sell overpriced goods (for example, 100 nails described as "100 metal coat hangers") without technically lying; and use skillful sleight-of-hand techniques to beat the Blackjack table. The probability bet involves drinking a shot of rum without spilling a drop.

Episode 7

Air Date: 10 September 2007
The hustlers make up an event, hire a band, then steal their equipment; sell fake tickets for a club night in Ibiza; demonstrate a fairground pendulum game that is physically impossible to win; and deliver empty parcels, cash on delivery, to unsuspecting small businesses. The proposition bet involves balancing a glass on top of three glasses and three knives.

Episode 8

Air Date: 17 September 2007
The gang rely on the goodwill of hotel owners towards (fake) VIP guests to make them pay for worthless deliveries; play Three-card Monte to hustle some holidaymakers; park a 'broken down' refrigerated delivery van in a residential street and need to sell its contents quickly, but sell empty boxes instead; and sell dolls' house furniture to people who assume it is the full size thing on an Internet auction site. The proposition bet involves separating two glasses without touching them.

Episode 9

Air Date: 24 September 2007
The hustlers fool a white van man into thinking he has hit a pedestrian, and get him to pay for her "damaged" laptop; rip-off some holidaymakers with what looks like a very cheap exchange rate, but sell them blank paper instead of cash; demonstrate an unfair fairground game involving throwing hoops over clothes pegs; and drive off an expensive car with a fake hotel valet parking slip. The proposition bet involves drinking from a glass without touching it with your hands.

Episode 10

Air Date: 1 October 2007
ME N JON WERE IN BATHSTORE PLAYIN WITH EACH OTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!

Episode 11

Air Date: 8 October 2007

Episode 12

Air Date: 15 October 2007

Series 5

All of the scams in this series take place in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Episode One

Air date: 12 February 2008
The team steals $80,000 worth of gems from under a jeweller's nose, with help from a wealthy disguise. Jess shows how $10 can be turned into $20 in less than two minutes, plus how casino staff can get away with stealing chips from a blackjack table.

Episode Two

Air date: 12 February 2008
Jess poses as the hotel inspector from hell so she can steal guests' belongings. Alex and Paul dress as valets to steal cars, and the team hit a casino for thousands of dollars without anyone suspecting a thing.

Episode Three

Air date: 18 February 2008

Specials

The 12 Scams of Christmas

The Christmas special. Air date: 17 Dec 2006

• Putting a shop's money in a Christmas card, short changing the bar, leaving the sealed card as security while leaving to get more change, eventually the barman opens the card to find the £20 note has gone.
• Two proposition bets - moving an olive without touching it and balancing coins on a glass.
• Free giftwrapping service - but what's in the box?
• The big toy - you order a games console for Christmas but do you get your money's worth?
• Setting up a bogus till in a department store
• Getting a locksmith to let you in to someone else's house
• Stealing luggage at the airport by distraction techniques
• Bag of 4 designer perfumes for £20 - but are they what they seem?
• Bad Santas collecting for charity and organising a charity raffle
• Never pay by cheque!

The Real Hustle Winter Special

In a one hour extended episode with some new and some repeated material. The new cons are: selling fake jackets in a motorway service station, using confidence techniques and sleight of hand to steal the takings from a pub, using a sharp knife to take belongings from bags, and taking other people's luggage from an airport carousel.

International versions

TruTV launched a U.S. version on January 22, 2008. The presenters are Apollo Robbins, Ryan Oakes, and Dani Marco, with Phil Tazini narrating. It follows a similar format to the UK version.

External links

• Current BBC three broadcast times of series 5 in the UK
• The Real Hustle
• Objective Productions
• The American version's website