'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAb/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAE/9oADAMBAAIQAxAAAAC/iATf/8QAIxAAAQQBAgcBAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIDBAUGADEREhMhIjJBUf/aAAgBAQABPwDH8frMOpBEZgxVU1g63FcZ6fMvy/Sfcb76kPQUyHUxagojhRDaTayhwT87BWv/xAAYEQACAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgEDMf/aAAgBAgEBPwC9pTD/xAAYEQACAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQMSMf/aAAgBAwEBPwCFW0//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Hulu's Hey Beautiful: Anatomy of a Romance Scam is a docuseries that exposes the sickening truth of contemporary online romance scams. Released on May 20, the docuseries tracks three women — Roxy, Annette and Gaby — who fall prey to a well-coordinated scammer employing stolen photos and multiple fake profiles.
Their experiences expose how scammers leverage emotional susceptibility, sophisticated technology and social engineering to manipulate and scam victims. Hey Beautiful: Anatomy of a Romance Scam also points to the general risks of internet dating, where anonymity and technology permit scammers to go unnoticed more easily.
Five shocking facts about the scam, as uncovered in Hey Beautiful: Anatomy of a Romance Scam
1) The same pictures, different victims
Trending
One of the most haunting facts is that the scammer shown in Hey Beautiful: Anatomy of a Romance Scam used the same batch of pilfered photos to scam several women. As Decider reported, the con artist employed photos of Brian Haugen, a Los Angeles-based actor and makeup artist, to craft a convincing and good-looking persona.
The photos were shared among various victims, each of whom believed they were dating the guy in the photos. The victims didn't learn the truth until they compared notes and saw the same pictures and stories being used with each of them.
2) Emotional vulnerability as a target
The scammer targeted specifically women who were feeling lonely or in emotional distress. As per the Decider, Roxy and Gaby were both in long-term marriages yet were feeling isolated, while Annette had just ended a marriage and was dealing with personal loss.
Contact was first established through social media before things moved to WhatsApp, where the scammer established intimacy with the use of compliments and emotional support. Using their need for company, the scammer was quickly able to gain their trust and influence their emotions.
3) Increasing financial demands
The scammer, after gaining trust, started making money demands. These began small but rose quickly.
As per reports from Decider, tales ranged from the need for oil rig machinery to emergency heart surgery. The amounts were different, yet one victim sent more than $30,000, while another revealed her Social Security details to the scammer.
The scammer's narratives were always convincing and urgent, making the victims unable to decline or question the demands. Gaby's financial loss was reported as especially huge, emphasizing the ruinous financial impact of such scams.
4) Use of technology and deepfakes
The scammer's strategies were augmented by technology. The scammer employed various fake identities, with names like Scott Donald Hall, James Richards and Michael Silver, according to reports.
As per reports from Decider, Hey Beautiful: Anatomy of a Romance Scam also hints at utilizing manipulated pictures and even deepfake technology to create a more believable persona of the scammer.
The victims also claimed to have received pictures and video calls that seemed real initially, further confusing people about what's real and what's not. It was much more difficult for the victims to identify the scam early enough due to use of sophisticated online tools.
5) The scammer remained elusive
In their quest to get to the bottom of the scam, the victims were almost unable to trace the actual individual behind the scam. For ABC News Studios, the ladies united and started investigating who the scammer was, only to find more layers of deceit.
The scammer used multiple aliases and technology to conceal his tracks, which meant that authorities or even the victims were unable to track him down. Their investigation into the matter found that the scam involved a greater scheme of online fraud, and flight from the scam became a personal safety for the victims.
Stream Hey Beautiful: Anatomy of a Romance Scam on Hulu.
