List of The Real Hustle episodes

This is an episode list for The Real Hustle. All dates are the first broadcast on BBC Three in the United Kingdom.

Series 1

Episode 1

Air date: 9 Feb 2006
The team perform the classic monte scam at the beach.

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 in a Black money scam, perform a proposition bet in a cafe, show the postman scam in the art of the pickpocket and deceive three professional poker players from

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 (Van Dragging), make sure a couple of people in a cafe overhear a phone conversation about an 'expensive' plate (Eaves Drop Scam), win another round of drinks with a Proposition Bet about drinking a shot hidden under a hat, replace a man's wallet with a wad of newspaper (The Phantom Wallet) and get someone to buy a car before making off with the car and the cash (Home Alone). City of London Police DCI Richard Jack and Dr Paul Seager, a lecturer in Forensic & Social Psychology, add their comments.

Episode 2

Air date: 14 Sept 2006
The hustlers steal a handbag then trick the victim into revealing her card PIN via a fake customer service line (The Bag and Pin Snatch), steal household belongings through front door letterboxes (The Long Stick), use a Proposition Bet on the circumference of a beer glass being longer than its height to get a free round, empty a woman's bank account by swapping her bank card as she's using it (The Cash Card Switch) and collect companies' takings by 'guarding' a bank's disabled night-safe (The Drop Box). DCI Richard Jack (City of London Police) and former master forger and security consultant Frank Abagnale are interviewed.

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 by tricking the buyer into thinking that it is of a valuable pedigree breed.

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 by asking to borrow their mobile phones by pretending she needs to send an important, but ordinary text; she actually subscribes them. 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 Apple 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 attender 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 off 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 (The Boomerang); install a fake cash machine to duplicate the cards and PINs of unsuspecting passers-by (The Cash Machine Con); 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 (The Recruitment Scam); and demonstrate electronic devices to help beat the casino (Casino Gambling Devices).

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 (The Flop); rip-off some holidaymakers with what looks like a very cheap exchange rate but sell them blank paper instead of cash (Exchange Rate Rip-Off); demonstrate an unfair fairground game involving throwing hoops over clothes pegs (Peg A Prize) and drive off an expensive car with a fake hotel valet parking slip (Valet Steal). The Proposition Bet involves drinking from a sherry glass (placed upside down in a larger brandy glass) without touching it with your hands.

Episode 10

Air date: 1 October 2007
Paul takes full advantage of a hotel's services (and room contents) using nothing more than an air of authority (Fake Doctor); a lure of big money for little work puts an unquestioning member of the public in a difficult position (Reshipping Scam); the Proposition Bet is that a coin can't be removed from beneath two balanced matches; the Cover The Spot fairground game is shown to be harder than it looks; and the team walk off with the personal belongings of a cafe's customers in less than 3 minutes, under the pretense of storing them in a cloakroom (Get Yer Coat).

Episode 11

Air date: 8 October 2007
The hustlers dress up as security guards, turn up at a shop which is expecting its weekly cash takings to be collected, and walk off with the loot; pose as the legitimate owners of sunloungers and collect rental fees from holidaymakers on the beach; man a rigged fun fair stall where people try and throw a ball into a basket; and pretend to be strangers and secretly collude in order to win a poker tournament. The proposition bet is to move an egg from one glass to another without touching it and without moving the glasses.

Episode 12

Air date: 15 October 2007 The gang hire some expensive jewelry for a fake photo shoot, which comes accompanied by security guards, and walk out with it via a hidden door behind a changing curtain; and con some holidaymakers into believing they need to pay a fine for speeding. The proposition bet involves throwing a glass of beer in someone's face. The episode ends with a recap of some of the cons from this series.

Series 5 - The Real Hustle Does Las Vegas

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

Episode 1

Air date: 12 February 2008
A couple are left with an immobilised car and without their luggage after a meeting with Alex, Paul and Jess (Wobbly Tyre); chip palming techniques are practised in Dealer Scams; a quick buck is made by Jess with her Change Raising hustle; the Proposition Bet is to retrieve a $50 note from water-filled, sealed glasses; and $80,000 worth of jewellery is stolen by a fake sheikh (Mystery Millionaire).

Episode 2

Air date: 12 February 2008
Jess poses as the hotel inspector from hell so she can steal guests' belongings (The Fake Hotel Inspector); Alex and Paul dress as valets to steal cars (Valet Distraction); Dealer Scams explains the Fake Chip Stack; a Proposition Bet asks 3 questions about a watch; and the team hit a casino for thousands of dollars in a brazen scam without anyone suspecting a thing (Shoe Switch).

Episode 3

Air date: 18 February 2008
The hustlers employ a cunning technique to steal the pot in a blackjack game (The Big Bluff); Jess uses her feminine wiles to win some money in a game of pool (Pool Bet Puzzle); the team go to extreme lengths to show how pickpockets operate (The Snip); and con a pair of passers-by with a rigged game of dice (Street Dice). Dealer Scams looks at Flashing The Hole Card.

Episode 4

Air date: 25 February 2008
A superstore is relieved of some expensive merchandise through the ingenious use of an empty box (Superstore Swindle); the Proposition Bet is to retrieve a cork from inside a wine bottle; a pair of gamblers happily hand over their winnings in the Slot Machine Sting; Dealer Scams looks at the Delusion Shuffle; and a trio of wannabe hustlers are hustled themselves in the Backfiring Bet.

Episode 5

Air date: 3 March 2008
A group of tourists are taken for a ride as their luggage is stolen (Shuttle Bus Swindle); the Proposition Bet is to throw and catch di in a glass; Dealer Scams demonstrates how to gain extra chips by using hidden moves; Jess makes off with a slot player's coin bucket (The Bucket Blag); and Alex and Paul hustle a group of lads out of their drinking money using the Eddie Fields Card Trick.

Episode 6

Air date: 10 March 2008
A father and daughter are taken with bogus discount chips in The Twist; the Proposition Bet is to remove a glass from beneath a finely balanced match; the Umbrella Drop and Rat's Tale pickpocket techniques are demonstrated in Las Vegas Lifts; Paul wins easy money with more Pool Bet Puzzles; and false assumptions and slight-of-hand allow Alex to rob a necklace in the Jewellery Store Steal.

Episode 7

Air date: 17 March 2008
An ingenious convincer parts a man from his cash (despite a skeptical partner) as he buys The Fake Lottery Predictor; the Proposition Bet shows how the interleaved pages of books can beat muscle and win drinks. Dealer Scams looks at the Lay Stack; Alex pots a coin into a shot glass in a Pool Bet Puzzle; and Slot Thieves demonstrates how a $7 monkey paw and some feminine charm can lead to big bucks on the slot machines.

Episode 8

Air date: 24 March 2008
Alex pretends to be a blind man to cheat a casino (Blind Man's Bluff); Jess places her head through a business card in a Proposition Bet; Paul cons an unsuspecting couple into buying counterfeit casino chips (Discount Casino Chips); and Dealer Scams looks at the Bust-Out Deal. Finally, a series overview looks at some of the scams pulled by the trio over the last eight programmes and runs through a checklist of lessons learned.

Series 6 - High Stakes

The sixth series of The Real Hustle scams celebrities including actress Joanna Page and rugby player Matt Dawson.

There are also more large-scale tricks on the public which will be spread in chunks throughout each episode.

The series will end with an hour-long special and an online viewer vote for the best ever hustle featured on the show.

The new series began on BBC Three on Thursday 09 October at 10:30pm.

Episode 1

Air date: 9 October 2008

The Team shows how easy it is to steal thousands of pounds of high value goods from right under the nose of a top hotel. Matt Dawson is challenged to a round of golf.

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.

Other Appearances

Richard & Judy Show (air date 9 February 2006). Alex, Jess and Paul were interviewed by the chat show couple.
Paul O'Grady Show (air date 11 October 2006). Paul demonstrated some of his skills in a brief segment.