02x02 - Romance Scams

[bunniefuu]

PRINCE: Love.

♪ This heart has wings ♪♪

DEBBIE: He was my
life outside of work.

MARGARET: Everything he
said was just so sweet.

DEBBIE: I just want to hug
him and have him hold me.

Like, I just want
to hug him so bad.

KIRIKU: Every single day,
he was saying something that

would touch my heart.

♪ This heart has wings ♪♪

MS: I was like a fish.

That hook was so
far down in my belly.

MARGARET: He's
an evil b*stard.

He is such an evil b*stard.

DEBBIE: I sold jewelry.
I sold investments.

MS: I gave him $2.8 million.

MARIANA: Romance scamming,

a global crime wave that
surged during our loneliest

months of the pandemic, wiping
out more than $300 million

from American bank
accounts in 2020.

WOMAN: Hello...

MARIANA: To find out
where some of that money went,

we'll track down
these tenacious sweet talkers

halfway around the globe.

How much money has
Michael sent you so far?

PUNISHER: More than 10K.

MARIANA: More than $10,000?

And learn how they've
perfected their insidious,
one‐two punch.

Before taking your money...

♪ Sweet words to you ♪♪

MARIANA: They steal your heart.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: So, we're right?

WOMAN: Yes.
MAN: Right right.

MARIANA: Right right.
Yeah. Okay.

Sun‐drenched Florida.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: With all its
wealth and retirees.

It's what you might call a
"target rich" environment

for romance scammers.

SUSAN: Okay.

MARIANA: Do you want
to put on your glasses,

just in case?

SUSAN: Oh, are we ready?

MAN: Camera speeds.
Okay, we're rolling.

SUSAN: I've
never been married,

but I've dated and I just
kind of felt like I wanted to

finally meet somebody.

DEBBIE: After Lou died,
I, I couldn't sleep well.

MARGARET: You know,
after a divorce,

you're feeling very lonely.

MS: I thought, "You know,
if I'm going to try marriage,

I'd better get going
because I'm 68 years old."

SUSAN: So, I signed
up on Facebook Dating,

and a half hour
after I signed up,

um, I met Damian.

He says he lives
just the next city over,

he's an orthopedic surgeon,
and we're the same age.

And...

MARIANA: He tells
Susan he's on a

four‐month UN peace‐keeping
mission in Yemen.

From his photos, he's
fit and slightly graying.

SUSAN: He's very handsome.
He's very flirty.

I thought,
"Okay, I can flirt,

this is fun."

He tells me, "I'm really
extremely grateful for having

you in my life, spending time
with me drowns out all of the

other concerns and
lights up my life."

MARIANA: Oh, wow.
SUSAN: Let's see...

MARIANA: Is this your
journal that you kept...

SUSAN: Yes.

MARIANA: All the
conversations you had?

SUSAN: Yes.
I wrote everything down.

MARIANA: So, you were keeping
a journal of what you thought

was a possible relationship
that you were going to have
with this person?

SUSAN: Right, my
heart really was
overtaking my brain...

MARIANA: Wow.

SUSAN: Completely. Um, I
thought about him constantly.

Every time the little
"ding, ding" on Google Hangouts,

I'd go grab my phone.

(text alerts)

DEBBIE: When Eric
and I started writing,

it filled up that hole.

He listened to me.

It was a great
healing thing for me.

MS: He was just so romantic.
He'd write me love poems.

MARGARET: Every single day.

He was filling that
void in my heart that was

my broken heart.

SUSAN: He is completely
and totally crazy about me

and wants to be with
me every single day.

It's like, who
doesn't want that?

MARIANA: But
only two weeks later,

she senses trouble.

SUSAN: I wake up Monday
morning and there's no videos,

no quotes, there's nothing.

So, I sent him a message.

"I don't know why I
haven't heard from you."

MARIANA: Mmm‐hmm.

SUSAN: "I hope you're okay."

And I have been stressing now,
the entire day.

Is he alive?
Is he dead?
I, I don't know.

MARIANA: The following morning,

Susan finally gets a
message that begins with

six crying emojis.

SUSAN: He said to me,
"We were under attack.

There were guys that
came into the compound.

Uh, one guy was shot.

I really want to
get out of this place.

I'm scared for my life."

He then tells me
some of his colleagues
paid their contract off

and he said, "I
can pay them $30,000."

MARIANA: Wow.

SUSAN:
"And I can then go home.

You know, you
and I are a couple,

we're in this together."

He said, "I thought if
maybe you could pay half,"

he goes, "that would be great."

MARGARET: It's so
embarrassing that it was close

to $300,000.

DEBBIE: $1,080,762.
MS: $2.8 million.

NORAH: More than
6,400 Americans say they were

scammed after
visiting dating websites.

MARIANA: The rise of
romance scams and our

increasing ease with
online dating go hand‐in‐hand.

More than 44 million
Americans went on dating sites

last year, giving
scammers plenty to work with.

But victims are also being
targeted on social media.

REPORTER: A 69‐year‐old
Sarasota woman will soon lose

her house after falling victim
to an online dating scam.

MARIANA: The median
loss of a victim in

2020 was $2,500.

But for victims 70 and older,
it was nearly 10 grand.

With arrests rare and
recovering money practically

unheard of, romance scammers
operate with near impunity,

but every so often,
there's a high profile bust that

provides a window into
this murky underworld.

Earlier this year, in a
case that's still pending,

US Law Enforcement charged
six alleged ringleaders of a

massive
cybercriminal enterprise,

that included
romance scamming,

based in a West
African country of Ghana.

(overlapping chatter)

Ghana is booming.

Its economy is one of the
fastest growing in the world.

Big‐name companies like
Google and Twitter are

planting headquarters
here to take advantage of an

English‐speaking
population that's young,

tech savvy, and ambitious.

But those same traits have
also made Ghana a hot bed for

romance scammers.

That's why I've come to track
them down and to understand

how they've turned online
seduction into a thriving

criminal industry.

♪ She a Ghana scammer ♪

(singing in native language)

MARIANA: One that's
even made its way into

the country's music scene.

(singing in native language)

DIRECTOR: Okay. Reset.

MARIANA: What was the music
video you're sh**ting here,
what is it about?

MARIANA: Meet Boss Bouncy,

the man behind the
song "Ghana Scammer."

MARIANA: So, she's
a gold digger...

BOUNCY: Yeah.
MARIANA: And a scammer?

MARIANA: Is
scamming big in Ghana?

MARIANA: So,
would you be able to,

you think, introduce us to
some people that you know or

is that not something
you feel comfortable with?

MARIANA: But before I leave,

Boss Bouncy
offers a little tip.

He tells me when
scammers get paid,

they like to celebrate,
have a few drinks.

♪ Hey, hey
she a Ghana scammer ♪♪

(singing in native language)

MARIANA: Hi, good evening.
MAN: Hi.

MARIANA: Do you work here?
MAN: I work here, yeah.

MARIANA: The clubs
and pool halls of Accra,

Ghana's capital.

Do you mind if I just
go up the stairs and see,

and then, I'll
come right down?

Could be the perfect
places to hear things that

shouldn't be heard.

MARIANA: Okay.
Here's our guy. Here's the guy.

The guy that's going
to stop and tell me.

Hi. Okay. So, you're
the man to know here?

MARIANA: I know, and I
just practically stalked you.

BEN: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

MARIANA: After a bit of hustle,

I finally meet a guy
who says he can help.

MARIANA: Awesome.

MARIANA: I'll text you.
BEN: Okay.

MARIANA: Later in the night,

I get a message telling me to
go to a certain address and

talk to the man playing pool.

Hi.

ODO: Hi.

MARIANA: So, I know you
don't want me to call you

by your real name, so
what should we call you?

MARIANA: Odo.
Okay, what does that mean?

MARIANA: Love?
ODO: Yeah.

MARIANA: So, um, you
know why we're here.

ODO: Yeah, yeah.

MARIANA: Can you tell me
a little bit what you do?

MARIANA: So how many
women have you scammed?

MARIANA:
Finally, I've found a scammer.

MARIANA: What was
your first fake name?

MARIANA: Morris Jackson?

MARIANA: I'm in Accra, Ghana,

one of the epicenters
of romance scamming.

This man, Odo, tells me he was
introduced to scamming by a

friend and instantly
saw success.

MARIANA: Pretending it was you?

MARIANA: The story
Odo faked is a favorite

of romance scammers.

Work sent him to Ghana,
but since no one took

American Express here,

he couldn't buy
anything and needed cash.

MARIANA: Clients,
that's what they call victims.

And so, the first time you
ever received money was $300.

MARIANA: From that
Canadian woman?

MARIANA: And how much money do
you think you've made from this?

MARIANA: Wow.

MARIANA: These
are scripts that...

ODO: Yeah.
MARIANA: Buy, you buy them?

MARIANA:
These scripts are almost like

"choose your own
adventure" books.

Except the scammer
chooses your adventure,

the romantic plot you'll follow,
based on the answers you give

and the type of person
he thinks you are.

MS: I wanted a person
to travel with.

He, he loved doing that.
He wanted to show me the world.

DEBBIE: He was going to be
leaving for about a month to go

to, to the Far East to
move hardwood trees from

Malaysia to India.

ODO: Um.

MARIANA: Are you okay?
ODO: Yeah.

MARIANA: Are you okay talking
with people coming in?

ODO: Yeah.

MARIANA: He's taking a
risk speaking with me.

The wrong person listening
could mean trouble.

Got a little nervous.

ODO: Yeah. Yeah.

MARIANA: Because there
are people looking,

I could see your eyes.

You were nervous
about who got in and
what they're listening.

MARIANA: Really?
And what, do you pay him a
percentage of what you make?

MARIANA: Wow.
This is news to me.

I'd assume romance scammers
worked as lone wolves.

But he tells me it's
more like a pack,

with an experienced boss who
knows how to go in for the k*ll.

He's like a finisher?
He's the person that finishes?

MARIANA: It's the
finisher who often writes

the scripts and takes over the
transaction once their victim is

ready to pay.

Only a small percentage goes to
frontline scammers like Odo.

Do you think I could
meet a finisher?

MARIANA: Why?

MARIANA: So, you wouldn't be
able to talk to your boss,

The Finisher, about me, right?

Because that would
put you in danger?

♪ ♪

MARIANA: Okay, so this
person is still in the game?

He's still scamming?

GRACIE: Yes, he's
still in the game.

MARIANA: I'm driving
with a local journalist

who's been reporting on
these scams for years.

He's putting me in touch with
a scammer he knows in Kumasi.

About 150 miles from Accra.

He says the dangers Odo
mentioned are real.

That's why he doesn't want
his identity revealed.

GRACIE: If you talk
about scamming in Ghana,

it's, it's huge.

So, any attempt by anyone to,

to want to, you know,
unravel anything,

get insight, you could be
putting your life at risk.

MARIANA: Tell me more about
the person we're meeting.

GRACIE: Right.

So, um, he goes by the
name, uh, The Punisher, and.

MARIANA: The Punisher?

GRACIE: The Punisher.

And he has this one other
person that he works with.

MARIANA: I have no
idea what to expect as I walk up

the stairs of this upscale
apartment building.

But instead of the armed men
and pat down that I'm used to,

I'm invited into a living room.

MIAMI QUEEN: Sweetheart,
I can't see you.

Oh, there you are.

RON (over phone): Oh, hi.

MARIANA:
Where it looks like a
romance scam is in full swing.

MIAMI QUEEN:
So beautiful, thank you.

(smooches)

(singing in native language).

MARIANA: He's going to fix it.

MARIANA: Are you
calling somebody?

What if they answer?

MIAMI QUEEN: Hey, sweetheart.

MARIANA: I'm in Ghana,

watching two romance
scammers at work.

He calls himself The Punisher
and she is Miami Queen.

(smooches)

MIAMI QUEEN: I missed you.

MARIANA: And to my surprise,

they're scamming men, not women.

MIAMI QUEEN: Yeah,
I know, but I told you I had
problems with my phone, so.

THE PUNISHER: Okay.

MIAMI QUEEN: Sweetheart, let
me go and take a shower, okay?

I'll call you right
when I'm done, yeah?

Don't go anywhere,
just wait for me.

And we're done.

MARIANA: So, what
just happened here?

You started to call
somebody, right?

THE PUNISHER: Mmm‐hmm.

MARIANA: And then when he
accepts, if it's a video,

you pass it on to her?

MIAMI QUEEN: Yeah.

MARIANA: When you're
communicating,

he thinks he's communicating
the whole time with her.

THE PUNISHER: Yeah.
MIAMI QUEEN: Yeah.

MARIANA: But he's
communicating with you?

MIAMI QUEEN: Mmm‐hmm.

MARIANA: And then you're just.

MIAMI QUEEN:
Mine is just to look beautiful
and make him feel sweets.

How much I love him.

MARIANA: Most of
romance scamming is

messaging, just typing.

But they've rented a space
tonight for these occasional

video calls, hoping to
satisfy their clients.

How many people do you guys
know that are scammers?

THE PUNISHER:
A whole lot of people.

MIAMI QUEEN: Oh, my God,
you can't count them.

THE PUNISHER: We have, we
have, we have friend scammers.

MARIANA: Like dozens?
Hundreds?

MIAMI QUEEN: Dozens.

MARIANA: All your
friends are doing it?

MIAMI QUEEN: Yeah.

THE PUNISHER: I have friends
who are rich, very rich.

MIAMI QUEEN:
They've built houses.

Big, big cars.

THE PUNISHER:
Everybody's making money.

MARIANA: Wiring money,
gift cards,

or straight up
cash are preferred.

But payment in Bitcoin
is also becoming popular.

MARIANA: So, you're pretending
to be a woman and scamming men?

MARIANA: It's easier
to get money from men,

he says, and there's simply more
men using online dating sites.

And yet, back in the States,

far fewer men than
women report being victims.

And this person you're
talking to, Michael,

has no idea that you're
actually a man in Ghana?

MARIANA: Right.

THE PUNISHER: I think Michael
has been too good to me.

MARIANA: How much money has
Michael sent you so far?

THE PUNISHER: More than 10‐K.

MARIANA: More than $10,000?
For what? What do you say?

MARIANA: Wow.

THE PUNISHER: Okay.
So, I do this.

MARIANA: Are you
actually calling him?

THE PUNISHER: Yes.

MARIANA: Where is he?

THE PUNISHER: Virginia.

MARIANA: Oh.

THE PUNISHER: So,
Michael is not online.

MARIANA: Oh, okay.

No dice, but had
Michael picked up,

he would have seen this video
recording of a young woman.

MARIANA: But if you talk,
it doesn't match.

MARIANA: Oh, my God. Wow.
So, you have the video
and then you're just typing?

MARIANA: Where did
you get this video?

MARIANA: Oh, you buy it?

MARIANA: Like scripts,

these videos are part of a
scammer's professional tool kit.

An underground
industry unto itself.

(phone ringing)

MIAMI QUEEN: Hey, baby.

Hey, honey.

Hey, sweetheart.

I love you.

Hi. I missed you.

MARIANA: I keep
watching them through the night,

but no money has come in.

Not even from Michael.

So, they say it's time to
take it to the next level.

♪ Going all night
'cause I ain't no slouch ♪♪

MARIANA: Black magic,

The Punisher will take
us to the woman who will
put a love spell on Michael,

one that will fill his
heart and empty his wallet.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: They call her "Nana,"

a title of high respect
in the local language.

(speaking in native language).

MARIANA: She plays
a vital role in a home‐grown

black magic‐infused scamming
culture called "Sakawa."

It links traditional West
African rituals and blessings to

the God‐given fortunes
of cyber fraud,

the kind aimed at
foreigners in far‐off lands.

MARIANA: Scammers
like The Punisher are often

called Sakawa boys.

And today, he really
needs her powers to work.

MARIANA: So, you think that now
that you've met with the priest,

you're going to
receive the money.

MARIANA: How much money
have you made, do you think,
from scamming?

MARIANA: 20 grand
is a lot of money,

especially in Ghana.

But it's pocket change compared
to what some of the bigger

operators are raking in.

That's who I'm still
trying to find,

one of the alpha ones
of the scamming world.

A figure known as The Finisher.

So, I think this is it.

Yeah.

So, a lot of these romance
scams are now being done by

sort of larger
criminal networks.

And one of the leaders
of one of these groups
has agreed to meet us.

The groundwork for this meeting
started back a week ago.

My local producer had been
digging and connected with a man

named Pussycat, who
claimed to be a finisher.

We first met him without
cameras on a rooftop in Accra.

He said little.

I could tell he was skittish.

I left dubious that we
would hear from him again.

But to my surprise, yesterday,
he called and gave us this

address off the coast.

Hi. I'm the journalist.

You said I could come and
meet you with your crew.

MARIANA: Okay.

MARIANA: Oh, wow.

Does she actually exist?
Is this a real person?

MARIANA: To my right is Kiriku,

the master of forged documents.

If a client wants proof of
anything, he's the man to go to.

MARIANA: To his right is Prince.

He's the hunter.

So, you're the first
person in this,

you start looking on
different dating sites.

MARIANA: His talent?
Choosing the right bait, while
casting the widest net 'cause

there's a lot of
different fish in the sea.

MARIANA: Then comes
the impersonator,

he goes by the name Shadow.

MARIANA: Sort of like
the actor, I guess?

SHADOW (female voice):
Hey, hi James. How are you?

MARIANA: That's his
voice when he scams men.

SHADOW (female voice):
All right, honey. Bye.

MARIANA: And finally,

the guy who brought
me here, Pussycat.

And what is yours then?

MARIANA: So, it's
like The Finisher?

PUSSYCAT: The Finisher.

MARIANA: At last, The Finisher.

You start the goal of it all,
which is getting the money?

PUSSYCAT: Yes. Yes.

MARIANA:
"Format" he says,
it's another word for "script."

MARIANA: Right.

MARIANA: Right.

MARIANA: So, you don't need
something to copy and paste.

You have it all in your head.

PUSSYCAT: No, I have them here.

MARIANA: It's his
long experience mining the

psyche of clients that gives
The Finisher the insights to

write these fake scenarios.

MARIANA: Uh‐hmm.

Whether you call them
scripts or formats,

they are the
beating heart of this scam's
multi‐million‐dollar industry.

MARIANA: You're that convincing?
PUSSYCAT: Sure.

MARIANA: You think so?
PUSSYCAT: Yeah.

PUSSYCAT: That's okay.
MARIANA: That's okay.

What do you mean?
You don't want him to say more?

PUSSYCAT: Yes. Yeah.

MARIANA: Pussycat
immediately cuts things off,

but I get it, small gifts might
lure me to reciprocate with

bigger gifts and someday,
maybe a cash loan.

PUSSYCAT: This is how we do it.

MARIANA: Though
they aren't willing to give out

their formats, they let
me listen in on a call.

In Texas?

KIRIKU: Yeah.
MARIANA: And it's a man as well?
KIRIKU: Yeah.

MARIANA: Yes.
It's another male victim.

How old?

PRINCE: 53.

MARIANA: I'm
quickly realizing that targeting

men is actually
quite common here.

Even though we
hear almost exclusively
about female victims.

MARIANA: They're
all telling me the same thing,

not only do men have more money,

they're much easier to fool.

PRINCE (female voice) :
Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?

SHADOW (female voice): Hey.
Hi, darling. How are you?

How are you doing?

JAMES (over phone):
Why can't I see you?

SHADOW (female voice):
Oh, I have a little
problem with my camera.

JAMES (over phone): That sucks.

SHADOW (female voice)
Yes. Sorry, okay?

Hey, what's up?

I miss you.

JAMES (over phone):
But when are you coming up?

SHADOW (female voice): Okay.

I'm going to be up
in like half an hour.

JAMES (over phone): In a half
an hour, you are coming up?

Will it take you an hour
and a half to get here?

PRINCE: He's asking you
when are you coming up.

JAMES (over phone): A month ago

SHADOW (female voice):
Ah, okay. I know.

But, you know, because
of the coronavirus.

JAMES (over phone): Oh,
you have the virus now?

SHADOW (female voice):
Oh. No, no, no, no, no.

I don't have the
virus personally,

but it's in here in Africa.

MARIANA: Looks like
someone has gone off script.

PRINCE (female voice): Hello?

♪ ♪

JAMES (over phone): A month ago

SHADOW (female voice):
Ah, okay. I know.

But, you know, because
of the coronavirus,

it's in here in Africa.

MARIANA:
I'm with a den of
romance scammers in Ghana.

They're working together
to scam a man in Texas.

PRINCE (female voice): Hello?

MARIANA: But because they're
juggling dozens of active
clients,

they briefly lose
lose track of the script.

PRINCE (female voice):
Hello? Can you hear me?

Hello?

PRINCE (female voice):
I would like to come over,
like, this weekend.

But I don't have
enough gas in my car.

And I had to use that
little box you sent me to
get some little medications.

JAMES (over phone): All right.

PRINCE (female voice):
Okay. Bye for now.

JAMES (over phone): Bye.

PRINCE (female voice): Love you.

MARIANA: I still
don't understand how they

explain their strange accents.

But maybe they're right,
men looking for love are

just easier to fool.

So, in this format,

it's an American girl willing
to go see this person.

ALL: Yes.

MARIANA: And is waiting for
you and is sending you money

to go and see him.

PRINCE: Yes.

MARIANA: And what's his name?

PRINCE: His first name is James.

MARIANA: How much
money has James sent?

PRINCE: 100 bucks.
MARIANA: $100, $100?

MARIANA: And what does
James think you look like?

PRINCE: Beautiful woman.

I've been sending
him videos, too.

MARIANA: So, it's not difficult
to find photos and videos of.

MARIANA: Because that
would ruin your business.

PUSSYCAT: That is my strength.

MARIANA: If you could have a job
as an actual graphic designer,

a professional graphic designer,
would you rather do that?

KIRIKU: Yeah, that's
what I wanted to do.

MARIANA:
Volume, expertise, efficiency.

Sure, they make mistakes.

SHADOW (female voice):
Hello baby, can you hear me?

MARIANA: But with
their strength in numbers,

they can regroup, readjust, and
scale up their romantic pursuits

over and over and over again.

DEBBIE: After he confessed,
I felt so stupid.

I had been a former Air
Force Intelligence Officer.

I had been a senior
bank manager.

I'd had legal training.

I was running a company.

MS: People say, "Don't send
money to a stranger."

Well, he wasn't a
stranger by that point.

This guy knew more about me than
probably any man had ever known.

MARGARET: He texted
me back one day and said,

"I'm a poor Black man
from Africa."

My whole world just fell apart,
completely shattered.

MARIANA: Hi, Ben.
SUSAN: Hi, Ben.

BEN (over phone):
Hi. How's it going?

SUSAN: It's great, how are you?

BEN (over phone):
I'm doing well.

MARIANA: Back in the States,

I again meet up with Susan.

She wants me to witness
something she's been eager to do

for quite some time.

BEN: Sounds like you've run
into to some questionable,

uh, lovers.

MARIANA: She's
enlisted the help of Ben Taylor,

a scam buster who exposes many
of their tricks on his popular

YouTube channel.

BEN: Today we're going to talk
about a scam that happens to you

when you're online
looking for someone to have a

good time with.

MARIANA: He's part
of a growing number of cyber

vigilantes disrupting
the work of scammers,

some have been able
to freeze assets,

shut down their bank accounts,
even hack into their computers.

BEN: So, tell me a
little bit about these,

these folks that have
reached out to you.

BEN (over phone):
How did it begin?

SUSAN: I signed up
on Facebook Dating,

SUSAN (over phone):
I met Damian.

And after two weeks of chatting,

he asked for $15,000
to help him get home.

BEN: Wow.

MARIANA: In fact,
when I interviewed Susan before

I left for Ghana, she told me
that nearly every man she met

online after Damian
was also a scammer.

SUSAN: I met Ryan.

And then I met Joe.

And Joe and Kenny played
their game very well.

It's guy after guy,
after guy, after guy.

Probably 90% of them are fake.

MARIANA:
Frustrated and fed up,

she decided to fight back.

BEN: So, you've talked to some
of these gentlemen on the phone,

is that right?

SUSAN: One calls me every
morning and every evening;

he thinks I'm going to go get

$8,000 out of my bank and
take it to the Bitcoin location.

BEN: Well, are you
going to do it?

SUSAN: I'm going to
pretend to do it.

BEN (over phone): Okay.

MARIANA:
The scammer named Paul says

he's working on an oil rig
in the Gulf of Mexico.

BEN: I'm doing some reverse
image searches to see if I

can find this guy anywhere.

SUSAN (over phone): Okay.

BEN: I haven't
found anything yet.

Oh, hold on.

I think I've just
found something.

The first thing that
pops up is a David Hoffman
who's a lifting supervisor.

MARIANA: So, you think the real
guy is called David Hoffman and

that this guy is
using that photo.

BEN: I'm thinking there's
a guy in Northern Ireland who

has no idea that somebody
else is using his picture.

SUSAN: I would agree.

BEN (over phone): Okay,

BEN: So maybe we can try
to find out who this guy is

and where he's from.

SUSAN: Okay.

So, I'm just off work, heading.

MARIANA: Oh, he wants
to talk on the phone.

SUSAN: Yeah.

All right, one second.

MARIANA: I can't wait to
hear this guy's voice.

SUSAN: Okay.

All right, here we go.

Hello, honey.

SUSAN (over phone):
Honey, are you there?

SUSAN: Oh, I'm better
now I'm talking to you.

Listen, I'm getting ready
to head to the bank, okay?

SUSAN: I do!

And honey, I forgot, why,
why did you need the money?

I forgot.

SUSAN: Right, right.

SUSAN: Well, my first reaction
would be to run up and give you

a big hug and kiss.

SUSAN: Honey, can you
hold just a second?

BEN: We might be able to
see exactly where he is,

but we need him to
click on a link.

BEN (over phone): What
if we tell him that you're
withdrawing the money right now

and you're on your way
to the Bitcoin machine?

We could probably send him
the link to a location,

like a gas station or something,
where the Bitcoin machine is,

and we can say, "Is this
the place I need to go to

deposit the money?"

And if he clicks on it,

then I might have some
information to give you.

SUSAN: Okay. Yeah.

MARIANA: Okay. Okay, sent.

BEN: All right.

Now we all wait and
pray that he's dumb enough
to click on the link.

MARIANA: Oh, my God.

I'm so nervous.
Are you?

SUSAN: Yeah.

I feel like he's going to jump
right out of it and grab us.

BEN (over phone): All right.

SUSAN: Yeah.
BEN: I just got a click.

BEN: Let's go ahead and
tell him that you are getting

the money now.

MARIANA: Okay, sent.

BEN: All right.

Now we all wait and pray
that he's dumb enough to click

on the link.

MARIANA: I'm so nervous.
Are you?

SUSAN: Yeah.
MARIANA: Right?

BEN (over phone): All right.

BEN: I just got a click.

BEN (over phone): He clicked it

MARIANA: Both the
FBI and the Secret Service can

take on investigations, but
rarely can they bring justice to

American victims.

MARIANA: That's
why so many are turning to

people like Ben not only
to search for their money,

but with a craving to give
these scammers a dose of their

own medicine.

BEN: I've got all the
information right here.

BEN (over phone): Are you ready

SUSAN: Yes.

MARIANA:
The scammer, named Paul,

says he's working on an oil
rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

BEN (over phone):
The time zone...

BEN: In his phone
is putting him in Accra, Ghana.

MARIANA: Wow.

SUSAN: Accra, Ghana.
Where the heck is that?

MARIANA: In West Africa.

In Ghana.

According to a 2018
research paper,

only Nigeria tops Ghana in
housing the IP addresses of

romance scammers.

But since Ghana is only a
seventh of Nigeria's population,

one country is clearly
punching above its weight.

SUSAN: All right.

So, I'm getting ready now to
block him because we're done

with him, right?

MARIANA: All
we had was Paul's city,

not his real name or address,
or anything that might lead

to an actual bust.

But still, Susan is clearly
enjoying Ben's help.

SUSAN: Oh, it's Lucas.

Oh, it's Lucas.
Okay, we'll talk to Lucas.

Hi, Honey.

SUSAN: How are you?

SUSAN: Aw.

MARIANA: Lots of
criminals lie and steal but a

romance scammer's
con is more intimate.

SUSAN: I love you, honey.

MARIANA: Their
payday depends on gaining the

trust and affection of
another human being.

SHADOW (female voice):
I'll be waiting for you online.

MARIANA:
I wonder if that leaves
them more conflicted.

THE PUNISHER: I, I love Michael.

He's been so kind to me,
you know, since I met him.

MARIANA: I did
believe The Punisher when he

told me he'd fallen in
love with his victim.

Do you think he'd be so
sad if he'd found out that

you were a man?

THE PUNISHER: Yeah.

THE PUNISHER: You know?

MARIANA: Uh‐hmm.

He didn't receive
20,000 from Michael,

but they are still in
an online relationship.

MARIANA: For Odo,
seeing one of his victims

evicted from her home actually
made him leave the game.

MARIANA: You have glasses on,
and we can't see very well,

but I can, um...

ODO: Yeah.

MARIANA: You're getting
emotional talking about this?

ODO: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

MARIANA:
But Miami Queen sees no reason

to feel remorse.

MARIANA: It's a
justification I've heard before.

MARIANA:
Scams as reparations.

THE PUNISHER:
We need to survive.

Africa needs to survive.

MARIANA: At the expense of
other peoples' suffering?

MIAMI QUEEN: Yes.
THE PUNISHER: Yes.

MARIANA: I wonder if you know
how much harm you're actually

inflicting on some people.

THE PUNISHER: Yeah. Yeah.

MARIANA: In our case, we've
interviewed mostly women.

THE PUNISHER: Yeah.

MARIANA: And now it's difficult
for them to find other people,
to trust other people.

Some of the people
who lost millions of dollars.

MARIANA: So, it's easier to
sleep with a guilty conscience

than it is with
an empty stomach?

THE PUNISHER: Uh, yeah.

But, you know, you know,
everybody is finding
a way to survive.

MARIANA: Before I left Ghana,

Pussycat wanted to show me a
fishing village not far from

where he grew up.

So, what's the percentage of
people if they're born in a

community like this, that they
are able to get out of poverty?

PUSSYCAT: Here.

MARIANA: Ahh.

Yes!

PUSSYCAT: Oh.

PUSSYCAT: Ahh.

MARIANA: A footballer?

(speaking in native language).

PUSSYCAT: Cristiano Ronaldo.
MARIANA: Cristiano Ronaldo.

That's a good choice.
Portuguese.

PUSSYCAT:
He wants to be a banker.

MARIANA: He wants
to be a banker?

PUSSYCAT: Yes, he
wants to do a banker.

MARIANA:
No one grows up wanting
to become a romance scammer.

It's a decision made
out of desperation.

PUSSYCAT: Okay,
mechanical engineer.

MARIANA: Mechanical engineer?

PUSSYCAT: Yeah, so you
see, they have dreams.

MARIANA: But I also
understand that people do what

they have to do to survive and
to provide for their families.

That urge is universal.

Maybe as universal as the
search for love itself.