These headlines exploit curiosity, the fear of scams, and the desire to consume more intelligently.

In short: Scammers have become must-see stars on streaming platforms, turning their crimes into mass entertainment. Between morbid fascination and media glorification, these unscrupulous figures profit from massive exposure that transforms them into influencers, while their victims keep repaying their debts. The public's natural curiosity about transgression, amplified by catchy headlines exploiting the fear of being scammed, creates a troubling paradox: how can we consume smartly in the face of a media machine that turns dishonesty into celebrity?

🎬 When scammers become entertainment stars

Until recently, serial killers dominated the documentary world without competition. Netflix made a specialty of dissecting the lives of Ted Bundy and Billy Milligan, with dizzying audience results. But over the past two years, a new type of criminal has stolen the spotlight from murderers: scammers.

This shift reveals something deep about our collective concerns. While we once feared extreme violence, we are now fascinated by those who manipulate, deceive, and accumulate fortunes without shedding a drop of blood. Documentaries and series explore this fascination with transgression with formidable ingenuity, using sophisticated narrative techniques to capture our attention.

Marco Mouly, a former French tax fraudster who diverted €283 million between 2008 and 2009, embodies this phenomenon. After his conviction, he amassed 129,000 Instagram followers and keeps appearing in the media. His apparent charisma, magnified by the documentary Les Rois de l'arnaque on Netflix, transformed him from criminal into an endearing personality.

📺 Netflix is revolutionizing the true-crime genre

In February 2022, Netflix surpassed its own records with The Tinder Swindler. The documentary accumulated 45.6 million hours of viewing in a single week and reached the top 10 in 92 countries. This staggering performance reveals the public's nearly insatiable appetite for stories of deception.

Simon Leviev—the fake son of Israeli-Russian diamond magnate Lev Leviev—extracted about $10 million from several women he met on dating apps. His scheme, based on prolonged emotional manipulation, lasted years for some victims. On camera, these women recount a nightmare that exceeded their worst expectations.

The phenomenal success of that documentary convinced Netflix the vein was far from exhausted. The platform then bet on Inventing Anna, a fictional series created by Shonda Rhimes, the producer behind giants like Grey's Anatomy and Scandal. Between February 14 and 20, that series generated 196 million hours of viewing, beating giants like You and The Witcher.

💰 From clicky headline to manipulation: how curiosity becomes a weapon

Behind every hit series about scammers lies a sophisticated engagement strategy. The titles of these pieces are never neutral; they exploit psychological mechanisms to create clickbait. Curiosity, that natural need to fill a knowledge gap, becomes the main tool to attract viewers.

According to content marketing experts, the gap between what the title promises and what the viewer knows triggers an irresistible compulsion to click. A title like “This scammer stole $10 million: here’s how he escaped the police” creates narrative tension. The reader wants to know what happens next, and this mechanism works every time.

The fear of being scammed amplifies this effect. When we read these headlines, our self-protection instinct activates. We want to understand scammers' tactics, imagine it won’t happen to us, validate our intelligence by spotting the criminal’s flaws. This psychological mechanism turns distrust into fuel for viewing.

🎯 Scarcity and urgency: proven tactics

Scarcity marketing plays a crucial role in this dynamic. When Netflix announces “available for a limited time” or “only this week in the top 10,” it creates a sense of urgency. This technique exploits a well-known cognitive bias: we assign more value to rare things.

Anna Delvey, the heroine of Inventing Anna, perfectly illustrates this phenomenon. Her scams targeting luxury hotels and New York banks relied on the exact same principles: create a perception of rarity and exclusivity to justify her outlandish requests. She claimed to be a Russian heiress with hidden millions, creating an aura of inaccessibility that fascinated her targets.

🌟 From the defendant’s bench to influencer status: advertising redemption

The phenomenon that shocks observers the most remains this instant metamorphosis. Convicted criminals become celebrities with millions of followers, sign lucrative deals, and build empires on the ashes of their crimes.

Simon Leviev now totals 331,000 followers on Instagram. Although banned from Tinder, he signed a contract with celebrity agent Gina Rodriguez and is reportedly paid $20,000 for nightclub appearances. Meanwhile, his victims are still repaying their debts—a glaring injustice that exposes the system's flaws.

Anna Delvey received $320,000 from Netflix for the rights to her story. After compensating her victims and paying her lawyers, she would have ended up with about $20,000. But that money was enough to relaunch her career. She is now preparing her own documentary, investing in cryptocurrency and NFTs, while managing an Instagram account followed by one million people.

🏛️ Lawyers try to block the path to riches

Attorney Guy Ophir, who represents the plaintiffs, said he wants “to take all the money he has been able to or will earn thanks to this scam.” His goal is clear: go after the scammer and make sure everyone knows he was convicted. Before the era of social networks and mass entertainment, criminals would never have benefited from such publicity.

However, the legal fight proves much harder than expected. How do you recover the proceeds of a scammer who now operates as an influencer, when social platforms and nightclubs do not share contract data? Legal loopholes multiply, and victims often remain without recourse.

🧠 Why are we so fascinated by scammers?

Joseph Agostini, psychologist and author of Je dépense comme je suis and Tueurs en série sur le divan, offers an enlightening explanation. “We are just as captivated by stories of embezzlement, manipulation, and lies as we are by murder,” he explains. Our modern society loves transgression, especially when it’s smart and nonviolent.

The scammer has an advantage over the murderer: it’s easier to identify with them. They swim comfortably in our society because we are all someone else’s scammer, on a small scale. We ghost people on Tinder knowing it’s cruel. We exaggerate our qualifications on LinkedIn. We lie to our friends about our mental well-being.

According to Agostini, scammers fascinate us because they haven’t internalized the moral laws that we carry as a burden. They recall an earlier state of our conscience, when we thought anything was permitted. Watching their stories confronts us with a troubling question: would we be happier without the moral barriers that hold us back?

😈 The illusion of happiness without guilt

But Agostini warns: it’s a seductive illusion. Perversion never leads to happiness. These scammers who seem so free in public suffer from other demons: shame, distress, annihilation anxieties. Being a scammer is not a dream life; it’s a hell paved with bad intentions and big bills that sound hollow.

To understand how scammers use psychology to manipulate, you must accept that their strategies target our emotional faults. They exploit our need for connection, love, trust. That’s why The Tinder Swindler left such a mark: Simon Leviev didn’t just steal money; he stole years of life, genuine emotions, the hope of sincere relationships.

📚 How to consume smartly in the face of this transgression industry

Faced with this wave of content glorifying scammers, the question of smart consumption becomes central. How do we watch these series without participating in the celebration of crimes? How do we maintain our critical sense when a team of Hollywood writers makes a scammer charismatic and likable?

The first step is to recognize the mechanisms at work. Clickbait headlines and their psychological mechanisms are not accidents; they are carefully designed to bypass our rational judgment. By identifying these tactics, we regain a form of control over our experience.

Second, always seek the victims’ perspectives. The best documentaries give as much weight to the voices of the scammed as to those of the scammers. This narrative fairness is crucial to maintaining a healthy distrust and a form of moral justice, even when the legal system fails.

🛡️ Protect your information and money in the age of entertainment

Financial security begins with information. Before investing, trusting someone online, or sharing sensitive data, consult verified and diverse sources. Scammers count on our laziness to verify; refusing that laziness is an act of protection.

Be wary of overly sensational headlines promising explosive revelations. Real information economics rewards verification, nuance, and patience. The mental shortcuts that catchy headlines exploit are the same ones that make us vulnerable to scammers themselves.

Finally, support victims more than criminals. If you share content about scammers, include resources for victims, reminders about online caution, and constructive critiques of the narrative mechanisms that glamorize crime. Your content consumption can become an act of smart consumption by staying aware of these issues.