Editor 's note : The staff at CNN.com has been intrigued by the journalism of VICE , an independent media company and Web site based in Brooklyn , New York . The reports , which are produced solely by VICE , reflect a very transparent approach to journalism , where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process . We believe this unique reporting approach is worthy of sharing with our CNN.com readers . London , England ( VICE ) -- According to Britain 's National Fraud Authority , fraud costs British taxpayers an estimated £30 billion ( $ 47 million ) every year ; globally , the figure is a staggering $ 3 trillion , an amount larger than the GDPs of the United Kingdom , France , and Canada . In April 2011 , VICE was introduced to Tony Sales , a convicted fraudster and one of Britain 's most successful career criminals . During his career , Sales banked an estimated £10 million through various financial scams , ultimately spending six rather luxurious years of his life on the lamb . Sales introduced us to a number of players in London 's vast underground fraud network , who tutored us in various scams that , cumulatively , cost every adult in Britain £621 ( $ 1,000 ) a year . A number of those we met were young , working-class men , most in their late teens or early 20s . One young fraudster explained that he first started scamming online to finance his wrestling action figure collection , though when he discovered how easy it was to obtain purloined credit card numbers , he graduated to more expensive items like sneakers , stereo equipment and large grocery orders ( which , he claims , are then given to local single mothers ) . We were allowed to watch as he plied his trade , but his identity was never known to us and we were blindfolded for the round trip to his apartment . See the rest of UK fraud at VICE.COM . We also spent time with a Nigerian underworld figure calling himself Mr. Gold , the purveyor of a strangely ingenious scheme called `` wash , wash. '' Gold convinces other criminals -- including , he claims , members of the Irish Republican Army -- that he has obtained large amounts of cash that once belonged to Osama bin Laden . He then charges his victim thousands of pounds to `` wash '' the former al Qaeda leader 's `` dirty money , '' which has been stained brown for `` reasons of security . '' The cleaning fluid , Gold explains , is prohibitively expensive and can only be obtained by bribing military personnel . Despite the absurdity of the scam , he claims it has netted him hundreds of thousands of pounds . How did we gain access to this world ? Well , Tony Sales argues that he is now a reformed fraudster , and hopes that this documentary will demonstrate to the British government that they should employ him to help combat fraud . We wish him all the best .
Fraud in Britain is estimated to cost taxpayers $ 47 million a year . VICE meets former and current career criminals for an inside look at how they do it . The first time I heard about the scam was when my friend told me that he had been scammed by someone who claimed to be from Scotland, but actually lived in London.