The documentary Super Scam Me shows what it takes to catch a romance scammer

Watch an exclusive clip from Super Scam Me where the victim tracks down their scammer.

Mariana Van Zeller interviews on camera.

If you get a DM from an unverified account after commenting on one of Jon Bon Jovi's official Instagram posts, what does it take to believe it's really the rock star you're hoping to connect with? And at what point when he starts asking you to send money — like the money you're losing your house to — do you snap out of the fantasy and stop emptying your bank account?

Investigative journalist Mariana Van Zeller delves deep into this land of toxic love bombing in her first documentary, Super Scam Me, premiering Saturday. In the clip that Ars is publishing exclusively below, you can see how Van Zeller worked with an ethical hacker, Arman the Cyber, to use a fake Bitcoin receipt and fake Bon Jovi bait, leading the victim to a much-needed package.

Airing on National Geographic at 9 p.m. ET and available to stream on Disney Plus and Hulu, the documentary takes viewers on an empathetic quest to understand how the line between "lover" and "scam victim" is blurring in the romance scams that the Federal Trade Commission says cost Americans about $1.5 billion each year.

The FTC has warned that these scams are now the leading form of financial fraud in the United States, often targeting older women with sources who lack community and are looking for online connections, such as widows or divorcees. Most victims never get their money back, and scammers overseas are becoming more sophisticated thanks to artificial intelligence, Experian predicted in January.

In Super Scam Me, viewers have the opportunity to go beyond a victim's story and see how romance scams work so effectively to collect money from people they target on social media apps like Instagram or dating apps like Match and Tinder. Van Zeller has been reporting on the scam industry for years, and when he saw so many victims being ripped off by romance scams, he devised a social experiment in which he became a target. His plan quickly worked, attracting a con man in Ghana posing as a handsome four-star military general abroad named "Mark Turner".

Pictures of Mary Zeleh in her daily life.

Mary Zell and Mark Turner ad posted in Accra, Ghana.

National Geographic/Daniel Hollis Diamond

Relying on a wig, oversized glasses and a prosthetic nose to mask her true identity as a journalist (in case a scammer tries to look up her profile picture), Van Zeller posed as a middle-aged antiques dealer named "Mary Zelle." She posted her photos to show that she is a fun girl who is living her best single life. When he hooked the scammer, he used the same tactics he used to bust the fake Bon Jovi in a plan to meet his scammer face-to-face. To track her down, he relied in part on handing out flyers in his neighborhood that included a picture of the apparently-in-love couple that Mark Turner had made for them. Wow, Mary Zell.

On the trip, Van Zeller shared her complicated feelings about the relationship she developed with her cheater as they texted day and night. These insights, along with his work, are critical to clearing the way for tracking fraudsters targeting Americans. Experts largely agree that ending rampant romance scams means engaging communities to show more empathy and pay attention to symptoms. This can significantly prevent threats to victims, who are also victims of social norms that isolate older women.

It's easy to assume that victims of romance scams must be naive or uneducated, but research shows that victims tend to be well educated. In Super Scam Me, viewers can see how trust slowly builds in these scams, how shame prevents victims from seeking help, and how simply wanting a real relationship can drive smart women like Bon Jovi's victim into bankruptcy.

"I've spent years reporting on scams, and the reaction I hear most is, 'How could someone be so stupid?'" Van Zeller says. That would never happen to me." But it can, and does happen to anyone. So this time, I targeted myself."

Undaunted for these women and flying to Ghana to raise awareness of their struggles, Van Zeller highlighted the tactics and technologies used by scammers in his documentary. National Geographic touts its documentary as exposing the true, devastating consequences of largely unchecked romance scams. The one-hour special will soon be scaled back significantly, NBC News reported, after a congressional investigation into dating app scams found that scammers are getting harder to catch.

Watching Super Scam Me makes it possible to catch these predators and gives victims and the community a glimmer of hope. Although Van Zeller easily spotted the scammer's stolen photos from an actual military general's Instagram profile, his fake online dating persona was far more convincing. Because he ethically avoided sending any money and relied on his hacker friend to keep the scammer at bay, the scammer never seemed to suspect that he was baiting him, rather than the other way around.

Ashley is a senior policy reporter for Ars Technica, dedicated to tracking the social impacts of emerging policies and new technologies. He is a Chicago-based journalist with 20 years of experience.