Who is James Blake and what happened to him in Hunting the Catfish Crime Gang?

JAMES Blake fell unfortunate to a shocking online scam and helium tracked down the radical down the strategy successful the BBC bid Hunting the Catfish Crime Gang. 

Years aft being scammed, Jame volition beforehand a caller bid named Hunting the Cybersex Crime Gang wherever helium volition articulation planetary task forces dedicated to hunting online offenders.

A sinister scam

James was moving arsenic a integer selling bureau proprietor erstwhile received a connection which said idiosyncratic had travel crossed a fake account utilizing his sanction and face.

Soon, aggregate impersonator accounts appeared and immoderate of them had pictures of his car, his friends, his household and adjacent his enactment colleagues. 

Things soon became overmuch worse arsenic helium began to person messages from radical who had been scammed by the fake accounts. 

Several women adjacent claimed to person been dating him online. 

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One of the women said that she had been scammed retired of £50,000.

James decided to instrumentality enactment and launched the documentary Hunting the Catfish Crime Gang to way down his impersonators. 

International scheme

He travelled to Thailand and saw immense buildings successful which respective of the scams were being conducted. 

It was past revealed that immoderate of the people successful these centres were victims too, who had been trafficked and forced to instrumentality portion successful the sinister scams. 

Throughout the documentary, James said that helium wanted the documentary to region immoderate shame surrounding the taxable of scams.

He added that helium hopes much radical talking astir the contented volition marque radical deliberation astir safer practices connected the internet.

A caller battle

In 2025, James volition beforehand different BBC Three documentary bid named Hunting the Cybersex Crime Gang.

Ahead of the show, James said: “My full satellite is online and I thought I knew that satellite well, however, Hunting The Catfish Crime Gang opened my eyes to the level of organised transgression and exploitation successful the integer satellite I had ne'er imagined. 

“I’m honoured to beryllium backmost with the BBC to delve further into this satellite to uncover the organised quality of Cybersex transgression online and formed immoderate airy connected this shadowy world.”

In the show, helium volition articulation a planetary task unit dedicated to cracking down connected online enactment crimes successful the Philippines. 

Eddie Doyle, Head of Content Commissioning astatine the BBC, has said: “James’ archetypal movie was a hard hitting look into the satellite of scams and the gangs who benefit. 

“This travel up shows however instrumentality enforcement is connecting globally including successful the UK to effort and tackle organised cybersex crime, and assistance audiences navigate immoderate of the pitfalls.”