Fraud emails often go unread, but stories stay with us. That’s the premise behind Scams Unmasked, a documentary-style video series created by Coventry-based filmmaker and former banker Ashford Menezes, which brings fraud cases to the screen in short, cinematic episodes.
The series, nominated for three awards including Best Online Content at the upcoming Birmingham Film Festival 2025, will now premiere weekly episodes every Friday from 10th October 2025 on a dedicated YouTube channel created specifically for scam awareness storytelling.
Before Covid, Ashford worked in the film industry across Bollywood, Punjabi cinema, and ad films. But when the pandemic disrupted opportunities, he took a sabbatical and pivoted into banking, where he spoke with thousands of customers and witnessed the devastating toll of fraud.
“I’ve always wanted to tell stories, and at the start of 2025 I finally took that leap of faith back into filmmaking,” Ashford said. “Scams Unmasked grew out of both worlds; my lived experience in banking and my passion for cinematic storytelling.”
Using cinematic stock, voiceovers, and sensitive scripting, each episode reconstructs the anatomy of a scam, exposing both the fraudsters’ tactics and the emotional journeys of victims without sensationalism.
With most of UK’s High Street and digital banks ramping up their fraud awareness campaigns, Scams Unmasked offers a fresh approach: stories that engage, educate, and stick.
Scams Unmasked will screen at the Birmingham Film Festival on Saturday 15th November at 10 AM at Millennium Point, ahead of the awards ceremony on 22nd November 2025.
Watch Scams Unmasked here: [https://www.youtube.com/@scamsunmasked]
New episodes release every Friday from 10th October 2025.
