As "The Masked Scammer" (2022 release from France; 80 min.) opens, we are in "Paris, 1995" and a 20 yo woman named Shirley retells how she met a certain Gilbert Chikli. Shirley loves Gilbert's scamming ways. We then go to "Paris, 2006", as Gilbert impersonates being the CEO of a company and manages to convince a employee in the finance department to wire transfer EUR 10 million... At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.
Couple of comments: first of all, let me state upfront that I had never heard of this conman before, but the scale with which he conned companies, and later even more brazenly impersonates being France's Minister of Defense, is amusing if it weren't so horribly wrong. The scamming of companies by pretending to be the CEO asking a lower level employee's assistance in a "sensitive" matter is common place (as I have seen first hand in my law practice in the US). It is, however, quite another matter to be impersonating, not just via telephone but in video meetings, the second most powerful man in French politics, just below the President. Wow. The documentary uses plenty of talking heads who retell various parts of the story. And how does it all play out? You'' just have to see for yourself!
"The Masked Scammer" recently started streaming on Netflix, and Netflix suggested it to me, based on my viewing habits. This is not a groundbreaking documentary, but just another example of how scammers operate, and quite openly so. If you are in the mood for a quick true crime documentary, I'd readily suggest you check it out and draw your own conclusion.
