The Uncatchable Romance Scammer: Two Decades of Fraud, Still on the Run

A man operating for two decades under shifting identities continues to find new victims via Tinder and Leboncoin, despite a conviction and an active arrest warrant.

Twenty years. That's how long the same man is believed to have been running romance scams across France, changing his identity with every new victim, according to an investigation by Radio France's investigative unit.

His hunting ground has shifted over time, but his method hasn't: seduce lonely women, sometimes even couples, through platforms like Tinder or Leboncoin, then extract money once trust has been established. A 2025 conviction, handed down in absentia to two years in prison, along with an active arrest warrant, hasn't stopped him — he's believed to still be at large today.

The investigation's broadcast in January 2026 had an immediate effect: six new victims came forward, revealing that his reach stretched from the Ardèche region all the way to the Chemin de Stevenson hiking trail.

What sets this case apart from an isolated scam is precisely this ability to keep going, again and again, despite an existing conviction — a sign, according to the journalists behind the investigation, of just how hard it is to track down someone who changes identity with every new victim.