Phase 1 of a love scam is the love bomb — intense attachment before trust is earned.
It shows up as:
• instant connection
• pet names (“baby,” “my love”)
• “deep” attachment in days
Too fast. Too intense. Too perfect.
It feels like romance — because the emotions follow a script.

Why do love scams work? Shimon Hayut, the “Tinder Swindler” — shows how. He built trust, urgency, and compliance with carefully crafted emotional signals, turning a scripted playbook into millions — and leaving victims scattered across the globe. His story is a masterclass in how love scams operate.

2. Co-optation. He gravitates toward charismatic figures with youth appeal and cultural cachet — potential rivals he can absorb, not attack.
3. Statesman performance. Moments like this let him project “I can work with anyone.”
4. Magnanimous dominance. The warmth functions as control, not agreement.

This was a classic dominance move: absorbing the insult.
The president turned the moment into control, not defensiveness, and removed the sting by owning the frame:

• reframing (“I don’t mind”)
• identity armor (unmoved by the label)
• control recovery (taking back the moment)

Primate feces-throwing = nonverbal dominance move.
Human insults = verbal dominance move.

To the base, it communicates: “I’m not yielding. I’m in control.”
To everyone else: “I can degrade you and stay powerful.”

Using a demeaning label in a high-visibility moment reveals the speaker’s internal state.

When the topic feels threatening the reaction is excessive.

This often reflects internal factors like:
• ego friction
• identity threat
• emotional overload
• fear of implication
• a need to reassert control