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‘Super Scam Me’ Exposes AI Jon Bon Jovi Romance Scam

‘Super Scam Me’ Exposes AI Jon Bon Jovi Romance Scam

Last updated on: October 17, 2026 at 10:31 pm by DeWayne Hamby

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‘Super Scam Me’ Exposes AI Jon Bon Jovi Romance Scam 2026-10-17T22:31:59-04:00 DeWayne Hamby

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Leslie Pickett believed she was in a relationship with Jon Bon Jovi. The man on the other end of her messages was a scammer using generative AI to play the rock star, and by the time the truth came out, she was facing foreclosure on her home. Today she speaks openly about what happened, hoping to keep it from happening to someone else.

‘Superscam Me’ image courtesy of NatGeo

Her story is the emotional center of National Geographic’s “Super Scam Me,” a one-hour special in which Emmy-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller does something unusual for an investigative reporter. She builds a fake online dating profile and makes herself the target of a romance scam. “This time, I made myself the target,” van Zeller says of the experiment. The stakes are real: according to National Geographic, romance scammers stole more than $1 billion from American victims in 2025 alone.

Helping her turn the tables is a white-hat hacker known as “Arman the Cyber.” In the film, he is the one who takes a scammer’s own greed and uses it against him. A fake bitcoin receipt leads the scammer to a fake redemption site, which quietly reveals his precise location. In an interview with Nate Powers, Arman explained why that kind of trap works so reliably. “They’re desperate for the money,” he said, and by that point, they truly believe they’ve convinced someone. They’re worried about getting paid, and they may have to answer to someone themselves if the money doesn’t show up.

Watching the film, what struck me was how unpolished these scammers were. The photos were obviously faked. Video calls relied on a glitchy, low-fidelity face filter. I asked Arman if there are more sophisticated operations out there. “There’s definitely far more sophisticated operations going on,” he said, and even the unsophisticated ones are “only getting more up to date and trying new things.” The deepfake software in the film “was not very believable,” he said, but newer tools replicate “things like shadows and human movement.”

That has a practical consequence. Getting someone on a video call used to be a way to confirm they were real. “Today it’s really not a thing you can use,” Arman said, which means people have to stay extra aware that these tools exist. Even old-fashioned spam still has a place in the toolbox. “There’s a reason why you’re still getting spam,” he said. “It’s because it still works.”

But the part of the film that stayed with me had little to do with technology. Leslie wasn’t careless. She was looking for connection, and someone gave her the feeling of it. The special closes on the loneliness that makes people vulnerable in the first place, and I asked Arman what viewers should do if they think someone they love is being targeted.

He didn’t pretend it’s easy. “It’s definitely a hard conversation to have,” he said. But he believes awareness and education are the key: helping the person understand what kind of scam is happening, why the scammer is doing it, and why the story doesn’t add up. Raise it as soon as possible, he said, before they send more money.

The film also introduces viewers to a woman who unknowingly became a money mule, moving a scammer’s cash without realizing she was helping commit a crime. Arman said it’s “extremely common.” If someone realizes they’ve been pulled into a scheme like that, he said, the best thing they can do is go to law enforcement as soon as possible. Coming forward once they became aware shows cooperation, and he said it can help a lot if they do end up facing trouble.

Arman, who spent his early years on the wrong side of the keyboard, now works as a bug bounty hunter with more than 100 findings to his name. Asked what it means to use those same skills to protect people, he didn’t hesitate. “It means everything,” he said. “It’s my identity today. So I wear it with great pride.”

That may be the real takeaway of “Super Scam Me.” The people most at risk are often the ones who are lonely, and the most useful thing the rest of us can do is notice. Reach out to the people in your life who might be isolated, make sure they have community, and if something looks off, say so early. After all, the best defense against a stranger who says all the right things is a real person who simply shows up.

“Super Scam Me” premieres Oct. 17 at 9/8c on National Geographic and streams the same day on Disney+ and Hulu.

—Special article contributed by Nate Powers

Nate Powers is a filmmaker and founder of Contrast Collective, recognized with multiple awards for accomplishments in directing, editing, character design, and social impact. He conducts entertainment interviews with actors, directors, and creators as a personal passion alongside his filmmaking career. Connect with him on social media @NatePowers.TV.

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