Behind The Hustle: 5 Netflix Shows On Cons, Frauds And Financial Deceptions
From small-town cyber frauds to billion-dollar corporate deception, financial scams often thrive in plain sight- masked by ambition, influence, and credibility. Over the years, Netflix has brought many such stories to the screen, unpacking how these schemes are built, who they benefit, and the moment when the illusion finally cracks. Equal parts cautionary and compulsive, these narratives reveal that when money, power, and ego collide, the fallout is rarely small. Here are five Netflix titles that shine a light on the dark world of financial scams.
1. Bad Boy Billionaires: India
The investigative docuseries returns with its recently released fourth and final episode, Riding the Tiger, which revisits the Satyam scandal- often referred to as India’s Enron. Centred on Ramalinga Raju, once celebrated as Hyderabad’s ethical poster boy, the episode traces Satyam’s rise from its founding in 1987 to becoming a global IT outsourcing giant, before revealing how Raju overstated the company’s cash and bank balances by over $1.5 billion (approximately ₹7,000 crore), triggering one of India’s most significant corporate frauds. The earlier episodes profile other infamous business magnates including Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Subrata Roy, making the series a comprehensive look at financial deception at scale.
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2. Jamtara- Sabka Number Ayega
Set in a quiet town in Jharkhand, Jamtara exposes the mechanics of organised phishing scams run by young men who turn cold calls into quick cash. What begins as a grassroots hustle soon expands into a dangerous ecosystem involving politicians, middlemen, and rival gangs. The series captures how cyber fraud became scalable, sophisticated, and deeply entrenched in everyday life.
3. Inventing Anna
Inspired by real events, Inventing Anna follows Anna Delvey, who infiltrated New York’s elite circles by posing as a wealthy German heiress. Stylish and unsettling, the series shows how confidence, social access, and perception can be leveraged into financial fraud- raising questions about who gets believed, and why.
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4. The Tinder Swindler
This true-crime documentary chronicles a modern conman who used dating apps to emotionally manipulate women into funding his extravagant lifestyle. By blending romance with deception, the film highlights how financial scams have evolved in the digital age- where trust is built quickly and exploited just as fast.
5. Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street
This docuseries chronicles the rise and fall of Bernie Madoff, the architect of the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Once a trusted Wall Street insider, Madoff siphoned off billions by promising consistent returns and paying old investors with new money. The series exposes how reputation, blind trust, and regulatory failures allowed the scam to run unchecked for decades.
Stream these titles and more on Netflix and dive into stories where big money meets bigger lies.
