Mariana van Zeller Blushed Next to Her Husband While Baiting a Romance Scammer for "Super Scam Me"

Leslie has been a Jon Bon Jovi fan since she was 14, but she can't listen to songs like “You Give Love a Bad Name” anymore. After an impersonator posing as the rockstar took her money for a meet-and-greet that never happened, even a trip to the store became a minefield. "That man is everywhere," she told me. "I know it wasn't him that scammed me, but I can't listen to any of that anymore.” Leslie's story is the emotional core of Super Scam Me, the new National Geographic investigative special from Trafficked host Mariana van Zeller. Ahead of its October 17th premiere, I spoke with both women about how they met, how romance scammers operate, and the open invitation they hope reaches the real Bon Jovi.

Leslie had watched Trafficked since it first aired. After her attempts to reach Bon Jovi's camp went unanswered, she noticed van Zeller was online one night and poured out her whole story in a single message. Having already been burned once, she insisted on more than a text exchange before she would believe she was talking to the real journalist.

Van Zeller said she often hears from scam victims because of her past reporting, but Leslie's message arrived just as she was beginning what she calls her "crazy experiment." After one phone call, she knew she was headed to Louisiana.

Going undercover as "Mary Zell," van Zeller connected with a scammer calling himself Mark. She explained that the relationship didn't start out romantic. "If you think a scammer shows up in your life and says, 'Hey, I love you, give me your money,' it's not the case," she said. "They're very good at what they do."

Mark began with small talk, bonding over a shared love of antiques and mentioning a late wife and kids in college. Over time, the conversation turned into full-on love bombing, with multiple messages a day checking on what she was eating for dinner and promising she wouldn't have to work so hard once he moved in. Eventually, he sent shirtless photos and messages about what he would do once they were together.

"I would literally be sitting next to my husband and start blushing," van Zeller admitted, adding that she shared every message with him. She noted that some scammers wait months or even years before asking for money. For Leslie, the moment came when she mentioned that a Bon Jovi concert had sold out, and the impersonator offered a paid meet-and-greet through his "management."

Even knowing the relationship was fake, van Zeller found it emotionally draining, in part because she was using the scammers' own tools against them by lying and pretending to be someone she was not. Leslie, who had already lived through it, warned her to be careful. Both women even received flowers from their scammers. "That's how real they are," Leslie said.

The photos Mark sent belonged to a real man named Sam, whom the production interviewed. Van Zeller said he had no idea his pictures were being used, likely by multiple scammers, and that there is little he can do about it. In her view, raising awareness isn't enough. "The onus should really be on our governments, on our banks, on big tech," she said, pointing out that one in seven American adults have reported losing money to these scams.

Van Zeller met cybersecurity expert Arman Sadri at DEF CON in Las Vegas, the last person she spoke with that day. He now runs an organization that helps scam victims and has worked with law enforcement and private companies. What impressed her most was his compassion, especially in how he revealed the truth to Leslie. Leslie added that there simply aren't enough people like him.

The special's lighter touch comes from a smooth-talking AI cat who pops in to show viewers how easily convincing fake videos can be made. Van Zeller credited the idea to director Jeff Plunkett and ranked the cat as her third favorite person in the documentary after Leslie and Arman.

The investigation took van Zeller to Ghana, where she confronted her scammer in person. Unlike her work on Trafficked, where subjects agree to talk well in advance, this man had been cornered. The team knew his name, his address, and where he kept his car, and they had no idea whether he would arrive alone, with friends, or armed.

Van Zeller said she doesn't typically travel with security, since showing up with armed guards would undermine the trust her work depends on. "I was nervous," she said, "and what I was not expecting is what happened next."

Van Zeller also gave Leslie a taste of the real thing by taking her to a Bon Jovi concert, her first ever. "Except for childbirth, it was probably the best day of my life," Leslie joked.

Van Zeller and her team tried unsuccessfully to reach Bon Jovi's camp during production, but asked if Leslie would be open to meeting the real Bon Jovi someday. She would need it verified first, but would love to meet the man himself, and she doesn't hold anything against him. "I know it wasn't him," she said.

Super Scam Me premieres Saturday, October 17th at 9/8c on National Geographic and streams the same day on Disney+ and Hulu.