Love, Janessa podcast review — hot on the trail of the catfishers

Equal parts jaw-dropping and heartbreaking, Love, Janessa, a new podcast from CBC and the BBC World Service, sets out to track down Janessa Brazil, a toned, tanned woman with long, dark hair whose photo has become the bait for scores of catfishing scams. Does Janessa really exist and, if so, is she a swindler or a victim? And what of the poor saps taken in by the hard-luck stories and declarations of love from those pretending to be her?

This isn’t the first time podcasters have turned their attention to catfishing. Tortoise Media’s chart-topping Sweet Bobby documented a decade-long con in which a woman was duped into believing she was in a relationship with a handsome cardiologist. Love, Janessa easily equals Sweet Bobby in its queasily addictive tale of greed and duplicity. It is hosted by the British journalist Hannah Ajala, who is currently based in Ghana, from where many romance scammers, known locally as “sakawa boys”, operate.

But before the scammers, she meets the scammed, among them Roberto, a Sardinian farmer in his thirties. Several years ago, Roberto met a woman on social media called Hanna who shared intimate details of her life and told him: “You are my happiness and I want to experience true love in your presence.” Three months into their relationship, she said she needed money, claiming her phone was broken, her car needed fixing and she was behind on her rent. Roberto became suspicious and discovered the photos she had sent him were of one Janessa Brazil, though by this time he says he was already in love. Having convinced himself he was in contact with the real Janessa, he continued the relationship. Over four years, he reckons he gave her $250,000.

It is easy to hear the testimony of Roberto, or indeed Marjorie, the Nova Scotian divorcee who got on a plane to Ghana to meet the supposed man of her dreams, and gasp at their naivety. After all, who among us hasn’t encountered con artists online offering undying love and pots of gold in exchange for our credit card details? So all credit to Ajala, who treats her interviewees with nothing but empathy and kindness, a courtesy that is also extended to the sakawa boy who tells her how he has multiple scams on the go at once and has a spreadsheet to keep track of the lies he tells him victims. His wife and children know nothing of his extracurricular work.

Through smart storytelling and some seriously dogged reporting, Love, Janessa builds to a remarkable conclusion that I shan’t spoil for you here. What I can say is that the series rarely goes where you think it will and never loses sight of its humanity. In the realms of true crime, these are rare qualities indeed.

bbc.co.uk