Nik Russian con
In 2002, a con was perpetrated by Nik Russian, a British man who, at the time, was working at an entry-level position in a branch of the UK book chain Waterstone's.
Russian placed advertisements in major publications that invited people to audition for a year-long reality television programme where they could potentially win a prize of £100,000.
After receiving hundreds of responses, he auditioned some of them on Raven's Ait in London, then selected 30 successful auditionees to take part, without informing them that no actual programme had been commissioned.
Telling them that the show—to which he had given the working title Project MS-2—would last for an entire year, Russian instructed the participants to leave their homes, quit their jobs and then meet him in London on 10 June, where they would be divided into teams of ten and set their challenge for the next twelve months.
[6] He had set up businesses and written unpublished novels before taking a job working part-time in the biography section of Waterstone's in Piccadilly[4][7]—he subsequently decided that he wanted to produce his own reality television programme.
[16] In early 2002, Russian placed advertisements for a year-long television programme in publications such as The Stage and the Evening Standard, which invited "characterful, resourceful and energetic"[3] people to apply for the chance to "raise [their] profile"[17] and potentially win £100,000.
[6] Some had applied simply for the prize money; others hoped that exposure from the programme could help them to achieve some of their dreams, such as working as a television presenter or launching a fashion label.
[4] The auditionees were divided into small groups and given practical and psychological tests to complete, such as participating in trust falls and baking a cake in under an hour without a kitchen or ingredients.
Sleeping on the floor of the flat in Dalston that belonged to their cameraman Tim Eagle—a former clown[19]—the team decided to film their own reality TV programme about themselves, and set up a "diary room" to discuss their thoughts about Russian and his show.
[6] On 12 June, Eagle contacted the local news programme, London Tonight, and the group locked Russian in the flat, forcing him to speak with the journalists once they had arrived.
[8] Having believed that they would be participating in Russian's television programme for an entire year, most contestants had given up their homes, jobs and partners[1]—most had to find new employment and some were forced to move in with their parents.
On 13 June 2002, Debbie Leigh Driver, one of Russian's victims, contacted Caz Gorham and Frances Dickenson of the independent production company Christmas TV & Film and told them about the hoax.
[8] Another participant, Daniel Pope, managed to track Russian down to an address in Richmond upon Thames and convinced him to be interviewed by Christmas TV and apologise on camera.
[22] In exaggerated form, [this con] invites discussion about the ethics of factual television and the exploitation of film subjects, and of their aspirations as participants in celebrity culture within a post-documentary context.
[8] Paul English of The Daily Record noted that the swindle reflected a "fascination with reality TV – and how the draw of being on telly can turn us into gullible fools".
