American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals Season 2 Episode 6 Inside the WorldCom Scam/DHS: Department of Hollywood Scams

Inside the WorldCom Scam/DHS: Department of Hollywood Scams is the sixth episode of the second season of American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals. This episode covers two separate stories of high-profile scams that rocked the business world and Hollywood.

The first story is about the WorldCom scandal, one of the largest accounting frauds in U.S. history. WorldCom was a telecommunications company that grew rapidly in the 1990s, but its CEO, Bernard Ebbers, was determined to keep the company's stock price high and continue its growth at all costs. To achieve this, he oversaw a massive accounting fraud that involved inflating the company's revenues and hiding its expenses. The fraud was eventually exposed in 2002, and WorldCom went bankrupt, causing thousands of employees to lose their jobs and investors to lose billions of dollars.

The episode explores the details of the scam, including how Ebbers pressured employees to manipulate the company's financial data and how the fraud was eventually uncovered by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It also includes interviews with former WorldCom executives and employees who reveal the inside story of the scandal and the impact it had on their lives.

The second story is about the DHS, or Department of Hollywood Scams, which was a group of con artists who preyed on aspiring actors and actresses in Hollywood. The DHS promised to help these individuals get acting gigs and make connections in the industry, but in reality, the group was just a front for a massive scam that took advantage of people's dreams and desires.

The episode explores the tactics that the DHS used to scam its victims, including charging exorbitant fees for services that were never delivered and making false promises about audition opportunities. It also includes interviews with some of the victims of the scam, who reveal how they were lured in by the DHS's promises and how they eventually realized that they had been taken advantage of.

Throughout both stories, the episode highlights the devastating effects that these scams have on the individuals involved and the broader economy. It also asks important questions about the accountability of corporate executives and the need for greater scrutiny and regulation in both the business world and the entertainment industry.

Overall, Inside the WorldCom Scam/DHS: Department of Hollywood Scams is a powerful and informative episode that sheds light on two of the most high-profile scams of the early 2000s. Through interviews with insiders and victims, it offers a compelling look at the motivations and methods of those who perpetrate financial frauds and preys on vulnerable individuals.