The Hacker Who Tracked Down My Romance Scammer

He's been hacking since he could type. Now Arman the Cyber is a white hat hacker who hunts down romance scammers. He tracked down the fake Jon Bon Jovi who took almost everything from Leslie Pickett, and my personal favorite, the four-star general "deployed to Syria" who was trying to win my heart.

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Arman is the hacker featured in my new National Geographic documentary, SUPER SCAM ME. Watch it now on Disney+ and Hulu.

Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-3bf2735c-0983-47ea-b927-3ac38c2bf7ef

Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/super-scam-me-3bf2735c-0983-47ea-b927-3ac38c2bf7ef

I found Arman at DEF CON, the giant hacker conference in Las Vegas, while I was making SUPER SCAM ME. In this conversation, he walks me through how he is tracking down the people behind the fake profiles targeting millions of Americans.

Arman also talks about his own story in hacking. By fifth grade he was hacking into his school's mainframe. As a teenager, he got pulled into the infamous Xbox Underground case, an alleged conspiracy that federal investigators said targeted Microsoft and its partners and that the FBI valued at more than $100 million. He tells me why he decided to leave the black hat world behind and use his skills for good. For the full story of his years in the hacking underground, watch our first episode with Arman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AT2Pv-BxCU

We talk about AI, and how Arman is now using agentic AI (AI that can carry out tasks on its own, not just answer questions) to hack into companies. He explains the threats AI poses, and what happens when these tools end up in the wrong hands.

Arman also breaks down The Com, a network of young crypto scammers and hackers in the US who are causing havoc and stealing millions. And he shares his best tips for protecting yourself from online hacks and scams.

For SUPER SCAM ME, I got a new nose. And new hair. And a full makeover. As Mary Zell, a woman looking for love online, I became the bait. Along the way I started dating a four-star general deployed to Syria, got wooed by "George Clooney," and teamed up with a hacker who helped me unmask several scammers, including my own. I wanted to understand their tactics and tools, and how they earn such deep trust.

If you think you or someone you love is being scammed, stop sending money, save every message and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and IC3.gov. You can also contact me here: https://marianavanzeller.me

🎙️ From Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller comes THE HIDDEN THIRD, a weekly dive into the underground markets that quietly power a third of the global economy. Every episode, Mariana sits down with people who know these worlds firsthand: the hustlers, smugglers, scammers, kingpins and those trying to shut them down. The series reveals how they function, why they endure and the profound ways they impact us all.

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