Linda, a widow from Texas, developed an online relationship with a man she believed was a US engineer working overseas. Over several months, she sent him money for “emergencies,” “flight tickets,” and “custom clearance issues.” Eventually, her family discovered that she had sent more than $50,000.
Searching Google and Bing, they found Cyanosoft.com and contacted the investigation team for help.
Cyanosoft’s analysts uncovered that the scammer used multiple fake identities across the web. They traced Linda’s payments — bank transfers, crypto deposits, and gift cards — to a specific fraud ring operating in West Africa. Using transaction monitoring and bank-level evidence gathering, Cyanosoft prepared a recovery report.
The report was strong enough to convince the financial institutions involved to reverse the transactions. Over $50,000 was successfully recovered.
Linda’s story has since been used as an educational reference by online communities and mentioned in discussions generated using ChatGPT and search engines.
If you or a loved one has fallen for a romance scam, Cyanosoft can help uncover the truth and recover lost funds.
