The Real Hustle is a factual entertainment series produced by Objective Productions for BBC Three. It features a team of hustlers - Alexis Conran, Paul Wilson and Jessica-Jane Clement – as they try out some notorious scams on members of the public, filmed with hidden cameras. The aim is to reveal how scams work so that the viewer can avoid being ripped off by the same con.

The victims of scams in The Real Hustle are known as marks because of an old fairground practice: a chalk mark was put on someone's back if they were deemed to be easy to swindle, marking them out for all the fairground hustlers. The marks featured in the show have no idea they are being scammed. They have either been set up by friends and family or think they are taking part in a different TV show. After they have been scammed any of their money or property that was taken is returned to them and they are asked for their consent for the item to be broadcast.