♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, caught in a web of lies. the aspiring action star. >> she goes, i have a role, and we think you would be perfect for it. >> the makeup artist. >> there is no film. it's a scam. >> the screenwriter. >> all looking to make it big. all lured by an impostor pretending to be hollywood power players. pulling back the curtain on the con. >> it was seven years and hundreds of victims. >> how police say he hid in plain sight, and got arrested. >> it's like, oh, wow, it's

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♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight, imagine believing a big break has landed on your lap, only to realize that everything was a con. now the hollywood hopefuls

recounting the moment they were swept up in a sophisticated scam. hollywood, the town where dreams are plentiful but rarely come true. ♪ so when you think the one lucky break has finally come your way, you have to take it, right? >> so i was in crete on holiday when i received the first email about this project. it was called "the master." they were looking for someone who wanted to step up in a design role. >> reporter: she had worked in film and television before. but this was her chance of a lifeti lifetime. the film was being produced by a woman named leslie chow, and had

a $70 million budget. >> she said, i'm so impressed with the work you've done. >> reporter: one person with power, one person with money can turn your world around. >> every single time i went back to them with sort of questions, they came back to me with absolute definitive reasons why they wanted me for the role. they quoted people i had worked with in the past. >> this person was doing their research, and reaching out to people with just enough familiarity to make them think it was a legitimate opportunity. >> reporter: an amazing p paycheck, and a research trip to indonesia. but she needed to arrive as soon as possible. >> the chinese film companies worked that way. >> reporter: $5,000 for a ticket to jakarta. >> i was told to bring some money with me in u.s. dollars to give to the driver.

$1,000. and i was told by the production company that this was the local custom. >> reporter: heather had worked there before. she called her old colleagues to see what was up. the next morning, she was picked up for a meeting by the driver. >> i fell asleep at one point in the backseat. when i was raised up again, i was way out of jakarta. >> reporter: five hours later, they arrived to the first location. and heather felt something was off. >> the driver said to me in broken english, take photo. so i kind of realized at that point that my job wasn't to meet the producer or director at that stage. i had to go and take lots of photos as research. obviously, i start to think it's a bit odd. and eventually, i got a call

from leslie saying, hey, how are you? what's going on? i was like, i haven't heard from you since i arrived in jakarta. what's going on? where are the people i'm supposed to meet? at that point, she tried to manipulate me into thinking i had somehow caused the missing of the meeting. i was like, right, take me back to my hotel right now. >> reporter: when she gets back, she received an alarming email from a friend. >> the message saying, there is no film. it's a scam. and she was like, get out of there. and i was, oh, my god. i was like, how could i let this happen? i went straight downstairs to talk to the hotel manager. i said, i've been a victim of something. i don't know what. i feel like my life is in danger. please help me. >> reporter: the manager got her a car, and she went straight to the airport. when she arrived back home, her

agent called leslie the producer to ask about payment. they recorded the conversation. >> i'll give you my word, it will be solved by wednesday of next week. >> the money never turned up. it's such a weird crime because it's a story of someone who just picks on your hopes and dreams and then leaves them for dust. >> reporter: and that is part of the con. the idea that you don't know how it really works. >> reporter: or who else is a target. >> i was living in hawaii. i was working in film and television. >> reporter: he dreamed of being an action star, but so far had only gotten small roles. >> my first movie was "jurassic world

then i did "hawaii five-o" and "triple frontier." >> reporter: it was on set that he met andy three months after working together, he got a call from a man pretending to be andy. he said he had a big producer named debra snyder on the other line, and wanted to them. >> reporter: this is a huge break. it could lead to something really important. >> she goes, i have a role. we think you would be perfect for it. i'm like, i'm a no-namer. i'm skeptical. but i go along with it. >> reporter: the debra snyder impersonator says she wants him to audition over the phone. >> i've never heard of anybody doing a phone audition.

she lays out the scene, and i'm supposed to flirt with this woman at a hotel bar. she made a weird kissing noise. she said, kiss me back. so i did this whole, like, whatever. like, peck, like nothing, like, too much. then she wanted more. and i said, you know, this is sexual harassment. she goes, a real actor would do this. she said, our time is done. i'm like, okay, i just blew this amazing, huge opportunity. >> if you're auditioning for a movie, the producer isn't calling you and running lines with you over the phone. >> i think two days later, i got another call. >> reporter: it was the same woman wanting to run more lines. >> this is a lot of moaning, and i'm not moaning back. i'm just doing these kissing noises. i'm like, this is so nasty. >> reporter: that's how it goes for the next three weeks. there was no financial payoff

for the con artist. just the sick kicks of doing this over the phone. >> to hear my name was being used for phone sex is disgusting, especially when i'm perceived to be the person wielding the power over another person who is trying to get this job. >> reporter: then the woman wants him to fly out to los angeles. >> if you want to get what you want, you need to sleep with me. i would watch the me too movements, and the harvey weinstein stuff, and i said, i would never do that. i didn't know what to do in this situation, though. so i was torn. the whole time, she's like, you need to walk off that job and come here and sleep with me. and i'll give you a better opportunity. >> reporter: but he never received any flight info. he texted one of andy's friends, hoping he would know something. >> he said, hi, i just got a

message from conlan. he's expecting travel information. >> reporter: andy thought he might. he had been hearing about someone dubbed the hollywood con queen. >> i said, there's a scam that's been going on, and unfortunately, you are a part of that now. i reached out to a private investigator. >> reporter: and the info she had for andy was jaw-dropping. >> it's not a woman, it's a man. >> i can hear how humble and excited you were to get a call from us. >> reporter: the hollywood queen turned out to be no queen at all. >> the overall idea seems to have been humiliation. and to revel in their desperation, in their ambition. and eventually in their crushed dreams. >> i realized we had to do something. we couldn't allow this to go on

any longer. >> reporter: he takes a meeting with investigative journalists about working on a podcast together. >> they played some of the hollywood con queen, you know, scamming different people. we knew it would make a good podcast. >> reporter: they named their podcast chameleon, and hired ben decker, a digital investigator, to find the scammer. >> the scammer did an impressive job at covering their tracks in regard to burning anonymous email accounts, and shutting down websites. >> reporter: eventually, hundreds of potential victims came forward. and the story gets even more bizarre. >> it was seven years and hundreds of victims. >> reporter: coming up -- >> we got his passport. >> he pretended he was filming a netflix show.

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surprises. >> i had heard recordings. at no point did i think it was a man. >> reporter: an elaborate, stranger than fiction scam. >> i was barely able to keep track of it myself in a spreadshe spreadsheet. >> reporter: but when a little-known screenwriter entered the picture, the dots started connecting. >> greg turns out to be the key that unlocks the secret. >> he's been working for 15 years, writing scripts, and he believedt wa his big break. >> they were having us develop a 100-plus million fantasy movie. we had to learn everything we could about indonesian history, and develop the project. >> reporter: and one trip wasn't enough. >> i traveled to jakarta six times, it comes out to between

$80,000 and $100,000. >> reporter: a lot of money, but in a surprising twist -- >> he met with the hollywood con queen, face to face. >> reporter: yes, instead of just a voice, there was a real person. >> he had an l.a. style to him. he was dressed casually, khakis, button-down shirt, sweater west. >> reporter: greg had even recorded conversations about the fake film's lead. a protagonist that sounded oddly familiar. >> a chameleon? >> yes, like a shape-shifter. but she's more of a chameleon of the mind. >> every aspect was sophisticated. the amount of paperwork involved, we had lawyers looking over everything. everything seemed legitimate. the only red flag was that the money hadn't come back yet. >> reporter: greg spent months trying to get reimbursed.

but he never got his money, and the producer stopped taking his calls. >> that was the end of it. it was this elaborate con. we tried contacting the fbi, interpol. no one cared about it. didn't matter. >> reporter: so greg decided to investigate on his own. he came across a major clue. >> we got his passport. he used a passport at one of the travel agencies that were booking the travel guides in the places. and his passport was gobind gobd tahil. his birthday was halloween. and it was the guy. i shared the information with the fbi, but nobody cared. >> we both thought, that's

exactly the person. >> reporter: the passport and name turned out to be fake. but led to an old indonesian prison record for fraud charges that turned out to be real. >> once we knew his full name, a lot of interesting things happened. >> reporter: the suspected con artist was living a double life, and flaunting it on instagram. >> how's it going? i'm in a cafe. >> as far as we know, he had a fairly high living london as a food influencer. >> as you can see, fresh, new, hip restaurant in london. >> reporter: he even went on instagram live to reconnect with an old friend. >> how's it going. >> how are you? >> fabulous. >> he went online and showed his

face. it's unbelievable. >> i had heard from my attorney that the fbi knew who the con queen was, and it was only a matter of time. >> reporter: he was seemingly hiding in plain sight. but it wasn't caught. the news making headlines. >> they discovered he was a 41-year-old man. >> and finally, the morning of november 26th, 2020, he is arrested in manchester in the united kingdom. >> reporter: andy and the podcasters were in the meeting back in hollywood. >> you hear all the phones be beeping at once. oh, wow. he was arrested. it's over. >> andy, the real andy, sends me a text just saying, got him. and i'm like, what? i, like, jump up.

i'm, like, [ bleep ] yeah. got this guy. >> he needs to answer for his crimes. in that respect, it's the end of a long journey. no one believed me or wanted to hear about it for the longest time. >> reporter: the classic con crushing hundreds of dreams. but still, one key takeaway. >> for me, it's just as important for people to know, hey, you know, if it's too good to be true, it might be too good to be true. that's just as important as having this guy behind bars. >> we'll be right back. rgan, ane to me than hiv. more love,... more adventure,... more community. but with my hiv treatment,... there's not more medicines in my pill. i talked to my doctor... and switched to... fewer medicines with dovato. prescription dovato is for some adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment or replacing their current hiv-1 regimen. with... just 2 medicines... in 1 pill,... dovato is as effective as a 3-drug regimen... to help you reach and stay undetectable. research shows people who take hiv treatment as prescribed...

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♪ and finally tonight, an update on the man charged with the con. he's awaiting extradition to the u.s.ta been charged with conspiracy to commit wire two counts of theft. he has no comment at this time. >> that's all for this evening.

watch more episodes on hulu. thank you for watching. have a great weekend.