Gripping Documentaries About Scams And Frauds, Ranked

The Scammer:Frédéric Bourdin

The Scam:In 1997, French con artist Frédéric Bourdin acted as Nicholas Barclay, a boy from Texas who went missing.gone missingBourdin, age 13 in 1994, was accepted by the Barclay family despite not looking like Barclay and having a French accent. Bourdin claimed he was a victim of human trafficking.

A private investigator and FBI agent got involved, and they found Bourdin, age 23, impersonated other missing children. Bourdin claimed the Barclays knew he was not their son because another child had killed Nicholas in 1994.

The Scammer:Jerry Jacobson

The Scam:The six-part docuseriesMcMillionsMcMillions recounts FBI agent Doug Mathews's investigation into McDonald'sMonopoly promotion scam. Mathews, a colorful character, showed the winners of major prizes from 1989 to 2001 were all related. Further investigation showed Jerry Jacobson, a security guard at the game piece printing facility, rigged the game and committed $24 million in fraud.

The docuseries shows Mathews's investigation. This included filming fake commercials with alleged winners to get info on the fraud scheme.

The Scammer:Alicia Esteve Head

The Scam:After the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, Tania Head started an online group for 9/11 survivors. Head claimed she was in the South Tower and her fiancé died in the North Tower. She became a major voice for survivors.

There was justone problemHead's story has an issue: She was in Barcelona, Spain, on September 11, 2001, as reported inThe Woman Who Wasn't There, Head, whose full name is Alicia Esteve Head, did not travel to the United States until 2003.

Head lost her job for making up her survivor story.. There were claims she took her own life, but that claim proved false.. There were claims she took her own life, but that claim proved false.

The Scammer:Elizabeth Holmes

The Scam:Entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes made a quick success in Silicon Valley when her company Theranos built the Edison, a blood-testing machine. The Edison let customers test blood for 200 diseases with a finger prick at a local pharmacy. The Edison did not work...

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valleydocuments Holmes's rise and how she got powerful men in the world to invest in her company. The film also shows the empire Holmes built quickly collapsed due to her own lies.

The Scammer:Angela Wesselman-Pierce

The Scam:CatfishPhotographer Nev Schulman and 8-year-old painter Abby share an online friendship. Nev later befriended Abby's whole family, including her mother Angela and sister Megan. Nev and Megan started an online relationship, but Nev's friend Henry and brother Rel worried Nev was being scammed.

The three men visited the family but learned Angela had beenPretending.to be Megan and created all the paintings, not Abby. Angela also lied to Nev about having cancer. Nev later found Angela used about 15 fake Facebook profiles for her scam.

The Scammer: Donald Cline

The Scam: In the '70s and '80s, Dr. Donald Cline ran a fertility clinic in Indianapolis. He inseminated patients with his own sperm without their knowledge or consent.Our FatherDetails how Cline's crimes went undetected.Cline's crimes went undetected.for decades. Home DNA testing kits revealed his crimes. Those tests let his adult children connect on sites like Ancestry.com and learn their true lineage.

Indiana had no laws holding Cline accountable for his crimes. He never served jail time, but his medical license faced permanent suspension.

The Scammer: Simon Leviev

The Scam: Netflix released The Tinder Swindler in 2022.The Tinder Swindlerunpacks how con artist Simon Leviev tricked many womeninto giving him hundreds of thousands of dollars. Leviev convinced women on Tinder he was the diamond fortune heir and took them on expensive trips. He told them he was in danger and needed a credit card in their names to escape. He cut contact before moving to his next target.Leviev, whose real name is Shimon Hayut, faced arrest and two years in a Finnish prison for scamming women. He then spent five months in an Israeli prison for crimes separate from his Tinder scam.

Leviev, Shimon Hayut, faced arrest and two years in a Finnish prison for scamming women. He then spent five months in an Israeli prison for crimes not related to his Tinder scam.

Billy McFarlandBilly McFarland

Released in 2019, Netflix's Netflix released Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened in 2019.Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never HappenedFyre Fest in 2017. Fyre Fest aimed to be an exclusive music festival in the Bahamas. Attendees found a desolate beach, broken FEMA tents, and no way to leave the expensive event.Fyre FestFyre Fest happened in 2017. It was supposed to be an exclusive music festival in the Bahamas with luxury cabanas. Attendees found a desolate beach, broken FEMA tents, and no way out of the expensive event.

Billy McFarland organized the Fyre Festival. He got celebrities like Emily Ratajkowski and Kendall Jenner to promote it. McFarland eventually defrauded festivalgoers of $26 million and received a six-year prison sentence.The Scam: McFarland defrauded festivalgoers of $26 million and served six years in prison.

explores thePaolo Macchiarini

of disgraced thoracic surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. He gained fame for his breakthrough windpipe surgeries. An NBC special hosted by Benita Alexander, who married Macchiarini, featured his work.Bad Surgeon: Love Under the KnifeBad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife explores the medical malpractice of disgraced thoracic surgeon Paolo Macchiarini.The documentary explores the medical malpractice of disgraced thoracic surgeon Paolo Macchiarini.Paolo Macchiarini gained fame for his breakthrough windpipe surgeries. An NBC special hosted by Benita Alexander, who married Macchiarini, featured his work.

Evidence emerged showing three of his patients died after their surgeries. Alexander also found out Macchiarini had not divorced his former wife. Karolinska University in Sweden fired him for falsifying parts of his CV.

Macchiarini faced legal trouble. In 2023, he received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for medical malpractice.

The Scammer: The ScammerArista Records, Frank Farian, Rob Pilatus, and Fab Morvan

The Scam: The ScamThe 2023 documentaryMilli VanilliThe documentary retells the story of the music duo Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan. These two German citizens became famous in the late 1980s. Milli Vanilli was a popular duo; they won a Grammy in 1990. They later revealed theylip-synchedThey lip-synched all their material, causing huge public backlash.

Milli VanilliMilli Vanilli looks at how Pilatus and Morvan lost favor. The film includes old interviews with both musicians. It also shows Arista Records knew about the lip-synching scam. Frank Farian created the scam for Mill Vanilli.

The Scammer: The ScammerAnthony Strangis

The Scam: The ScamRestaurater Sarma Melngailis stole $1.6 million from her business. She did this to help her boyfriend-turned-husband, Anthony Strangis. Melngailis said she met Strangis online, and they started dating. Strangis asked her to wire money more often until she stole funds from her vegan restaurant, Pure Food and Wine.

The story gets stranger. Strangis claimed he was part of a secret group called “The Family.” Melngailis needed to prove her commitment to their relationship. The Family provided Melngailis and her dog Leon witheternal lifeMelngailis tells this story and other strange events in the docuseries.

The Scammer: The ScammerRobert Hendy-Freegard

The Scam: The ScamIn 1993, Robert Hendy-Freegard told college student Sarah Smith he was an undercover MI5 agent and she faced danger. Smith spent ten years moving to safe houses and being emotionally manipulated.emotionally manipulatedHendy-Freegard manipulated Smith before she escaped. Hendy-Freegard got a life sentence but was released on parole.

The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate ConmanThe documentary shows Hendy-Freegard's deceptions. This includes kidnapping Smith and emotionally manipulating Sandra Clifton. Clifton's children spent years trying to get her away from Hendy-Freegard.

The Scammer: The ScammerMoviePass

The Scam: The ScamMoviePass, MovieCrashThe company MoviePass ruined its reputation in under a year. Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt started the company. They planned an affordable movie pass for customers. When profits were low, their board brought in Ted Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe to take over.

Farnsworth spent lavishly. He and Lowe reportedly told MoviePass's IT team to block frequent users' cards to cut company costs.This scam eventually got both men indicted.Both men eventually got indicted.

MoviePass still exists. Spikes leads the company, working to restore its reputation.

The Scammer: Misha Defonseca

The Scam: The 2021 documentaryMisha and the WolvesThe film first retells Holocaust survivor Misha Defonseca's harrowing story. In the 1990s, Defonseca told friends about searching for her parents during the Holocaust after the Nazis took them. At seven, Defonseca crossed the Belgian woods and joined a pack of wolves. Defonseca later published a memoir,Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years, in 1997.

The documentary changes focus as people find flaws in Defonseca's story. Some people view Defonseca as a fraud.a fraud, and she faced millions in fines for making up her life story. This story appears inMisha and the Wolves.

The Scammer: Centra Tech

The Scam: BitconnedBitconned tells the story of the fake cryptocurrency Centra and its company, Centra Tech. Ray Trapani and Sam “Sorbee” Sharma founded Centra Tech. The documentary shows Trapani had a history of crime from childhood, and Centra looked like another scam. Trapani and Sharma used Photoshop and basic tools to makefake cryptocurrencycredit cards and other items that cost investors $32 million. Even the CEO's photo was fake; Trapani found it after Googling “old white man.”

When caught, Trapani avoided prison by helping the FBI. He provided evidence that helped convict Sharma and another associate.

The Scammer: William “Rick” Singer

The Scam: Using reenactments and interviews, the film covers Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal.Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions ScandalThe film shows how many wealthy parents worked with college counselor Rick Singer to get their children into top colleges. This story caused media uproar, especially since celebrities like Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin faced accusations ofbribing school officialsto get their kids into college.

Rick Singer centered the scandal. He organized bribery of test proctors and coaches, among others, to cheat the system. In 2019, 50 people were arrested in a $25 million scam.

The Scammer: Bernie Madoff

The Scam: Bernie Madoff was a successful investor. He secretly ran a huge Ponzi scheme for decades.Ponzi schemeInMadoff: The Monster of Wall Street, the film retells Madoff's rise in New York and his $64 billion Ponzi scheme.

Madoff, called a “financial serial killer,” faced downfall from his sons during the 2008 financial crisis. Analyst Harry Markopolos spotted Madoff's shady dealings years before, but no one listened. Madoff died in prison in 2021.

The Scammer:A group of French con artists.

The Scam:In 2008, French businessmen and criminals created a scam to They make billions.from the European Union's Emission Trading System, which let firms trade carbon offsets. Grifters in Lords of Scamused fake companies, letting them keep the money.

The documentary centers on Marco Mouly, who played a major part in the scam. Mouly drives the whole documentary.

A mystery surrounds Lords of Scamtwo associates in the fraud were killed.