A lonely Brisbane woman decides to try and meet the love of her life online and hooks up with a young and attractive member of the U.S. military, based in the Middle East. But all is not as it seems. Before she knows it, Wendy Smith has been trapped in a well-organised romance scam and loses a fortune to cyber-criminals. But she soon turns the tables on them with the help of QPS cyber experts who set up a tricky string and manage to pull off a remarkable arrest.

We thank the Yuggera people on whose land this episode of Breakthrough was produced.

 The Queensland Police Service acknowledges all members, including those attached to the Crime and Intelligence Command, who contributed in some way to the investigation of this case and their ongoing efforts to prevent, disrupt, respond and investigate serious crime.

Special thanks to those members who assisted with the production of this podcast episode including: Assistant Commissioner Katherine Innes APM; Detective Inspector Melissa Anderson BM APM; Detective Inspector Vincent Byrnes; Detective Sergeant Brett Weder; Detective Senior Constable Shawn Chia; and Sarah Trienne, Maeghan Gillespie and the team at Queensland Police Service Media.

The QPS also thanks Associate Professor Dr Jacqueline Drew of the Griffith Criminology Institute at Griffith University who has worked in collaboration with QPS across a range of research projects to improve policing responses.

And heartfelt thanks to the pseudonymous “Wendy Smith” who courageously agreed to share her story so that others don’t fall victim.

Breakthrough is co-produced by Moo Media and the Queensland Police Service.

Writer and host: Matthew Condon.

Producer: Kate Morris.

Audio production: Wasabi Audio.

Qld Crime Stoppers: Crime Stoppers Queensland | Make a Report Today (crimestoppersqld.com.au)