Scam Victim Turns Movie Star

The Perfect Scam

Jerry Hsu, a retired engineer living in Florida, receives a phone call from someone claiming to be his cellphone provider. They are threatening to cut off his service because the Shanghai Police Department says Jerry is speaking out against the Chinese government and engaging in money laundering. As a Taiwanese immigrant, Jerry is frightened; there must be a misunderstanding. The person on the other end of the line is very persistent and convinces Jerry to work as a secret agent for the police, and he eventually wires up to $1 million from his bank account in order to protect himself. After Jerry transfers the last of his life savings and realizes this was all a scam, he shares what’s happened with his son, who is a filmmaker in New York City. The father-son duo then decide the best way to share Jerry’s unfortunate experience and alert other families is to create a documentary film. And in this heartbreaking yet -warming film, Jerry plays himself.