If “Con Mum” proves anything, it is that there are a lot of catfish out there and that they will continue to do what they do best.
“The Tinder Swindler”, “Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare”, “Inventing Anna” and “Fanatical” are some of the streaming offerings that have exposed not just the deception and greed of con artists but also their lack of remorse.
While this genre has proven to be a goldmine for networks, I’ve grown wary of watching the same gullible actions on repeat, albeit in different scenarios.
With so many red flags, how are such responsible, learned people allowing themselves to be swindled?
Sadly, their emotional baggage has made them susceptible to opportunistic individuals.
Of late, there’s been a lot of buzz around the Netflix documentary feature, which centres on Graham Hornigold, a talented and respected pastry chef who finds his life upended by a woman claiming to be his mother.
Leading a fulfilled life, Graham and his pastry chef wife Heather Kaniuk were looking forward to becoming first-time parents. However, just before the arrival of their bundle of joy, correspondence from an 80-something Dionne Marie Hanna changed the course of their life.
Having passed the test in terms of answering cursory questions, Graham and his wife agreed to meet his biological mother. Her nurturing demeanour saw them drop their guard, and he got to know his mother better. He wanted to make up for lost time, more so with his mother’s ailing health.
Her gregarious personality was underpinned by her lavish lifestyle. It was unsettling for the couple, who come from a middle-income background.
Believing Dionne to be wealthy after her claims of belonging to the Brunei royal family, Graham and Heather found themselves being showered with expensive gifts like Range Rovers.
Dionne then asks Graham to accompany her to Switzerland, where she needs to transfer all her assets into his name.
However, the short trip gets extended and, while there, Dionne, unbeknownst to Graham, befriends and exploits a few other individuals.
When Heather starts noticing big transfers from their joint account to Dionne, she senses something is amiss.
By this stage, Graham is so far down the rabbit hole with his emotional attachment that he happily goes along with what his mother says.
It is only when he is several hundred thousand pounds in the red that he realises the truth. However, by this time, he’s lost the life he had.
While he has been able to get back on his feet, he remains gutted knowing that he was defrauded by his flesh and blood.
Earlier this month, Dionne was arrested for fraud in Singapore but don’t hold your breath assuming the wheels of justice has turned in her victims favour.
- Rating: 3/5 solid and enjoyable film, though not groundbreaking.
