Description
After "Emilie" stole $812,000 from a widower in the U.S., reporters traced the fake persona to a scam compound in Myanmar: "There was a five-step plan for how to manipulate people psychologically."
Watch an excerpt from @frontline & @AssociatedPress' documentary, "Scammed," an investigation of how the global online scam industry steals billions of dollars from millions of people each year.
The full documentary premieres Tues., Sept. 29, 2026, on PBS and online. Learn more: https://to.pbs.org/4hkJety
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“Scammed” is a FRONTLINE Production with Peter Klein Productions in association with The Associated Press. The writer, producer and director is Peter Klein. The co-producers are Megan Robinson and Boris Ivanov. The reporters are Erika Kinetz, Juliet Linderman and Martha Mendoza. The senior producers are Frank Koughan and Eamonn Matthews. The managing editor of FRONTLINE is Andrew Metz. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.
Explore additional reporting from our "Scammed" investigation with the AP:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/scammed/
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FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and airs nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with major support from Ford Foundation, and Fialkow Family Foundation. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and Corey David Sauer, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. Additional support for “Scammed” is provided by the GBH News and Journalism Fund with contributions from Tania Phillips and Jeffrey Dover. Corporate support for FRONTLINE is provided by The Economist.