Oops - I can read it on my phone for some reason (I'm not a FT subscriber):
‘Chameleon’ is a true-crime podcast without a drop of blood Subtitled Hollywood Con Queen, the series probes a scam luring film business hopefuls to fake shoots in Jakarta ‘Chameleon’ investigates a con in which victims are lured to Jakarta, Indonesia
In Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen, from Campside Media and Sony Music, we hear from Eddie, a US Navy officer-turned-personal trainer from Ventura, California, who wanted to work with Hollywood actors to help them prepare for their roles. So when he heard about a production company looking for trainers for a film being made in Jakarta, Indonesia, he was keen to be involved. Eddie was asked to pay upfront for his flights on the understanding that he would be reimbursed later. Once there, he was asked to cover more expenses, including transport, translators and assorted permits. More alarming was that the producers he was due to meet were nowhere to be found. Eddie, it turned out, had fallen for a scam orchestrated by an anonymous woman who pretended to be an assortment of powerful industry figures, using false documents and email addresses in order to gain her victims’ trust. Co-host Vanessa Grigoriadis In Chameleon, the presenters and journalists Josh Dean and Vanessa Grigoriadis attempt to get to the bottom of a most peculiar con that preys on those at the bottom of the Hollywood food chain, from personal trainers and security guards to make-up artists and fledgling actors. They unearth hundreds of scams spanning five years, orchestrated over email or over the phone, and involving scores of cash transactions — all relatively modest sums handed over voluntarily. We are three episodes in and the narration, while compelling, has its odd moments. Painting a picture of Jakarta, the hosts describe it as if it were on another planet rather than a regular, bustling south-east Asian city, while, ahead of an interview with the two managers of a British make-up artist, Dean warns us: “The accents are colourful, just so you know.” One is English; the other is Welsh. But despite these hiccups, there’s plenty to enjoy in the series, which spans three continents and takes in financial fraud, private eyes and a villain who remains tantalisingly opaque. So far, the con queen of the title is only a voice on the end of the phone persuading hapless individuals to do her bidding. Best of all, while there are victims in the story, there are (as yet) no corpses. In the bloodthirsty world of true-crime pods, this is quite a novelty.