Mumbai: Romance scammers stole more than $1 billion from Americans in 2025, according to National Geographic. It’s one of the fastest-growing types of financial fraud in the US. Journalist Mariana van Zeller wanted to see for herself how these scammers operate. So she decided to try getting scammed.
For National Geographic’s new documentary Super Scam Me, van Zeller goes undercover as a potential victim. She has investigated scams before for the channel’s series Trafficked, but this time, she wanted to experience the process from the victims’ side.
In the documentary, she changes her appearance and sets up a fake dating profile to see what happens.
Van Zeller ends up in an online ‘relationship’ with someone claiming to be a four-star American general stationed in Syria. Another scammer pretends to be George Clooney.
Speaking to ABC News, van Zeller explained that romance scams often begin on dating websites or social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. The scammers start by asking questions and showing an interest in the person they’re talking to.
“They start love bombing you, and then, you know, sometimes it takes months or even years before they actually ask you for money,” she said.
National Geographic says the rise of generative AI has made these scams harder to spot, with scammers able to impersonate celebrities and other public figures.
Also read: Salman Khan to Karan Johar in new Koffee With Karan promo. ‘Karan, tussi na jao…’
Eyes on the scammers
Van Zeller said the idea for the documentary came from the reactions she got when she told friends and family about scams she had investigated. People often seemed more interested in questioning the victims than in what the scammers had done.
“It was very common that people would say, ‘How stupid could they be? Why would you give money to a stranger?’ And that really upset me,” she told ABC News.
She wanted to put the focus on the scammers instead, to “see their tactics, their strategies, and really understand how good they are at scamming people”.
In the documentary, van Zeller also works with an ethical hacker to find out who is behind the fake general’s profile. She then tries to confront the scammer in person.
She meets victims too, including a woman who believed she was in a relationship with singer Jon Bon Jovi. The woman lost so much money that she was facing foreclosure on her home.
Super Scam Me will premiere on National Geographic in the US on 17 October. It will also stream on Disney+ and Hulu there. An India release date has not been announced.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)