It was an audacious plan; use a silicon mask to look like a former French defense minster, create a replica of his office, video call rich businessmen and convince them to give millions to rescue journalists held by ISIS. And it worked. Gilbert Chikli scammed more than 50 million dollars from the rich until he was finally caught after evading capture for years. Evan Ratliff explains one of the greatest cons of all time, the power of persuasion and why we are living in the golden age of scammers in his podcast Persona: The French Deception.