There's quite a flow of sting programs on TV where people set themselves up to be the victim of a dodgy car salesman / builder etc. In such cases there is no offer of journalistic protection - instead the criminals are caught being bad. By the sounds of it this was the nature of this exercise, and as long as there was no promise of protection of sources, the exposed people were fools who deserve what comes to them. However if there was such a promise, the issue gets more complex...

As far as this board is concerned, this is a warning to be cautious about our trust in people we get to know here. Some of us have been around for a long time and have met one another: as a result some of us can vouch for others of us. New arrivals however need to be cautious about who to trust - and whatever the case should NEVER admit to criminal activities either current or in the past.