How Dating Scams Work | Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller

[Music] Are you calling somebody? What if they answer?

Hey, I'm in Ghana watching two romance scammers at work. He calls himself the Punisher and she is Miami Queen. Yeah, I missed you. And to my surprise, they're scamming men, not women.

[Music] How long has it been, baby, in the world? Right? Yeah, I know, but I told you I had problems with my friends.

Sweetheart, let me go and take a shower, okay? I'll call you when I'm done.

Yeah, don't go anywhere, just wait for me and we're done.

So what just happened here? You were starting to call somebody, right? And then when he accepts, what if it's a video? You pass it on to her.

Yeah, when you're communicating, he thinks he's communicating the whole time with her. Yeah, he's communicating with you.

Mm-hmm. And then you're just—mine is just to look beautiful and make him feel sweet. How much I love him.

Most of romance scamming is messaging, just typing. But they've rented the space tonight for these occasional video calls, hoping to satisfy their clients.

How many people do you guys know that are scammers? A whole lot of people. You have—we have—we have friends, like dozens, hundreds, thousands.

All your friends are doing it? Yeah, I have friends who are rich, very rich. They build houses, big, big cars. Everybody's making money.

Wiring money, gift cards, or straight-up cash are preferred, but payment in Bitcoin is also becoming popular.

I'm a female. I'm using the profile of a female. So you're pretending to be a woman and scamming? I'm pretending to be a human. It's easier to get money from men, he says, and they're simply more men using online dating sites.

[Music] 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? Yes, I started falling in love with him, not for intercourse or whatever it is, but you know, I thought for him.

Right, my gear is the kind hearthstone. I think Michael has been too good to me.

How much money has Michael sent you so far? What? I'm thinking more than ten thousand dollars.

For what? What do you say? Line 10 apartments, school fees.

Michael know some school year in Ghana? Wow, okay, so I do this. Are you actually calling him?

Yes, where is he? Virginia? So Michael is not online? Oh, okay, no dice.

But had Michael picked up, he would have seen this video recording of a young woman. This video will play and you answer the call, but if you talk, it doesn't match; she's not talking.

You see, she's typing. Oh my God, wow! So you have the video and then you're just typing?

Yes. Where did you get this video? You buy it online?

Oh, you buy it? Yeah, like scripts. These videos are part of a scammer's professional toolkit, an underground industry unto itself.

I missed [Music] [Music].