Overview of Catch Him if You Ken: The Dating Scammer Who Targeted Influencers
This episode of Chameleon investigates Ken Yanai—later identified as Kendrick Chu Wen Long—a charismatic, highly elusive con artist who used dating apps, luxury-image posing, and fake business opportunities to scam wealthy and influential people across multiple countries. The story follows how one of his victims, “Sophie,” uncovered the truth, and how reporters Natalie Robamed and Abakar Adan pieced together his background, scams, and disappearance.
What the Episode Is About
The episode centers on a classic “love scam” that escalated into a broader fraud investigation:
- Ken presented himself as a rich, shy, trustworthy, tech-savvy heir
- He used dating and real-world charm to build trust before asking for money
- His scams spanned cryptocurrency, fake startups, and investment pitches
- Victims included:
- Sophie, an influencer and crypto investor in New York
- Becca’s family in Los Angeles
- Rita, a housekeeper
- Antonio, a crypto novice in Europe
How Ken Ran His Scam
The Persona He Built
Ken repeatedly reinvented himself as:
- The son of Uniqlo founder Tadashi Yanai
- A former Google/Google X employee
- A crypto genius and startup founder
- A wealthy man temporarily “cut off” by his family
He also leaned on a carefully crafted image:
- Mild-mannered, awkward, and non-threatening
- Always met victims in person
- Used his French bulldog Luigi as a social icebreaker
- Claimed temporary bad luck whenever money problems arose
Common Pattern
His method followed a consistent formula:
- Meet the target
- Build trust through dating or friendship
- Create a believable money need or investment opportunity
- Ask for cash, loans, or investments
- Disappear or delay when repayment was due
Sophie’s Story: The Breakthrough
Sophie initially believed Ken’s story and even invested heavily in his fake crypto project:
- She gave him $20,000
- Her parents added $6,000
- She later contributed more for marketing and programming
- Altogether, she lost about $100,000
Red flags accumulated:
- His card “declined” on a Disney trip
- He blamed family drama and a trust-fund cutoff
- He claimed his crypto wallet had been hacked
- He said he’d been robbed at an ATM
Sophie eventually checked his phone, found messages from other victims, and discovered an Instagram page called @KenYanaiScammedMe. That’s how she learned he had scammed multiple people and that nearly everything he told her was false.
Who Ken Really Was
The reporting uncovered that Ken was not:
- Rich
- Japanese
- The son of the Uniqlo founder
- A legitimate crypto expert
Instead:
- His real name was Kendrick Chu Wen Long
- He was from Singapore
- He had a long history of financial deceit, evictions, and disappearing acts
- He came from a family around wealth, but not wealth himself
- He attended a selective private international school, which may have shaped his obsession with status and appearances
Other Victims and Earlier Scams
The episode shows this was not a one-off scam but a long-running pattern.
Becca and Her Family
Before Sophie, Ken was with Becca, a younger Instagram model in Los Angeles. Through her, he targeted her family:
- He pitched a startup called Your Sky
- Claimed LeBron James was an investor
- Promised huge returns, like turning $50,000 into $1 million in six months
- Later redirected the story into another fake venture, including a weed farm
Rita
Rita, a housekeeper and family friend, was also convinced to invest:
- She gave Ken $60,000 in cash
- He framed it as a generous opportunity meant to help her get ahead
- She never got her money back
Antonio
Later, in crypto circles, Ken convinced Antonio to invest in a Costa Rica hotel project:
- Antonio lost more than $100,000
- He recovered only a small portion, about $6,000
- Ken may have used some of Antonio’s money to repay Sophie, though that was never proven
The Investigation and Arrest Attempts
Sophie did what many others couldn’t:
- She documented the losses
- She went to German police
- She helped lure Ken into a public place
- Police arrested him briefly
But the case stalled because:
- The money had been sent through crypto wallets
- Authorities couldn’t get enough proof from the exchange to tie the wallet directly to Ken
- He was released after 48 hours
She later tried again in Switzerland, but once more, the evidence wasn’t enough.
Where Ken Went
Despite extensive reporting, Ken remained difficult to track:
- He erased much of his digital footprint
- Reporters searched old social media, public records, family notices, and contacts
- They traced possible locations, including a lead suggesting Alicante, Spain
- His crypto wallets still appeared active, suggesting he may still be alive and possibly still moving money
The episode leaves open the possibility that Ken:
- Is still alive and scamming
- Has gone completely underground
- Or may have died, though there’s no confirmation
Main Takeaways
- Ken’s success came from patience, charm, and credibility-building
- He exploited people who thought they were entering either a romance or a smart investment
- His scam depended on status, social proof, and emotional manipulation
- Crypto’s anonymity made it hard for law enforcement to act
- His victims were left with partial recoveries, broken trust, and no clear justice
Final Message of the Episode
The episode ends as both an expose and a warning:
- Be skeptical of anyone who combines romance with investment pitches
- Luxury branding and a believable backstory can mask fraud
- Small, hard-to-prove crypto scams can still devastate victims
- Even if Ken remains at large, the goal is to make his name searchable and prevent future victims from trusting him
Notable Insight
“If somebody does find out his real name and Google it, they won’t give money to him.”
That’s the heart of the episode: building a public record so that the next person who meets “Ken” has a chance to walk away before getting scammed.