Television series
Love Fraud
Four episodes of gonzo true crime from the directors of Jesus Camp, following a serial conman who marries, bleeds dry, and vanishes on woman after woman — until his victims team up with a bounty hunter to track him down themselves. It's angry, funny, and cathartic in a way most true crime isn't: the women get to be the heroes of their own story.
If you liked this
The Tinder Swindler2022
The closest cousin here: a charming predator fleecing women across borders, told with the same mix of outrage and dark comedy, and the same instinct to let the victims drive the story.
But Slicker and glossier than Love Fraud — less scrappy, more Netflix-polished true crime package.
Dirty John2018
A scripted dramatization of a real con man who charms his way into a family and nearly destroys it — Eric Bale-level menace wrapped in a nice smile, plus the terrifying slowness of realizing you've been had.
But Fictionalized and slower-paced; you lose the raw, first-person testimony that makes documentaries like Love Fraud sting.
McMillion$2020
A joyously twisty true-crime series about the McDonald's Monopoly scam, packed with colorful investigators and even more colorful crooks — same pleasure of watching a long con finally unravel.
But Corporate fraud rather than personal betrayal, so it lacks the intimate, gut-punch quality of watching someone's heart get robbed.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Nightmare Alley1947
Love Fraud studies a predator from the outside, through his victims. Nightmare Alley puts you inside a conman's head decades before true crime existed as a genre, and the view is just as damning.
A gorgeous, doom-soaked noir about a carnival grifter who claws his way up by conning the desperate — and finds out what happens when the universe collects its debt.
But Black-and-white 1940s pacing and dialogue will feel like a different planet to anyone used to modern true crime.
More like this (7)
Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer2019
Internet strangers turn amateur detective to unmask a predator, mirroring Love Fraud's DIY-justice thrill — ordinary people doing what the system won't.
But Far darker subject matter; this one trades romantic scamming for something considerably more disturbing and violent.
Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.2022
A restaurateur falls under the spell of a manipulative grifter promising her dog immortality — as bizarre and infuriating a portrait of coercive charisma as you'll find.
But Leans harder into the absurd and surreal; some viewers find its tone tips from tragic into farcical.
Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist2018
A puzzle-box true crime series with a female mastermind at its rotten center, unraveling layer by layer with real interrogation footage and jaw-dropping reveals.
But More heist-thriller than romance-con; the emotional register is colder and more procedural.
The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman2022
A British documentary series about a man who convinced people he was a spy and fleeced them for years — same slow-dawning horror of realizing you were never dating who you thought.
But Less kinetic than Love Fraud; it's a quieter, more measured unraveling rather than a chase.
Catfish: The TV Show2012no page yet
The reality-TV blueprint for exposing online deception, episode after episode of hopeful people discovering the person they love may not exist.
But Repetitive by design and much lower stakes than Love Fraud's actual theft and disappearance.
Abducted in Plain Sight2017
A jaw-dropping documentary about a family's baffling, repeated manipulation by a predator — a study in how charm disables good judgment, again and again.
But Focuses on child abduction rather than financial fraud; considerably more disturbing and not really comparable in stakes.
I Care a Lot2021no page yet
Flip Love Fraud's moral universe: instead of victims uniting against a con man, here the con artist is the charismatic protagonist. Same predatory machinery, but Hollywood gloss instead of righteous fury — a look at the con from the other side of the table.
A pitch-black comedy thriller where Rosamund Pike plays a legal guardian who preys on the elderly with terrifying efficiency and a smile that never cracks.
But It's fiction, and it asks you to half-root for the predator — a very different, queasier kind of fun than watching real victims fight back.