Synopsis

A former tech executive gathers a team of software developers in the basement of an undisclosed location. They set out to build a digital advertising fraud operation. Within 12 weeks, they defraud a large number of high-profile advertisers, including the Trump campaign and a series of pro-Biden organizations during the 2020 US Presidential election. As the operation unfolds, we follow interviews about digital advertising, the Google-Facebook duopoly, and the known and lesser-known victims of ad fraud, like Uber and street vendor Nomfundo from South Africa. We also get to address the impact of ad fraud on the internet economy and our societies - and ask: is ad tech destroying democracy?