A Two-Edged Sword

Behind the Romance Fraud

What happens when a romance fraud doesn’t end after weeks or months, but continues for years?

It begins with attention, affection, and promises. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the relationship changes. Affection becomes expectation. Expectation becomes obedience. And what once felt like love becomes a system of psychological manipulation and coercive control.

Anuraga Thakkurra takes readers beyond the familiar story of a romance scam to examine what may be operating behind it.

Through one survivor’s firsthand experience, this book explores the carefully repeated patterns of affection, emotional pressure, fear, punishment, and reconciliation that made leaving far more difficult than anyone on the outside could understand.

It raises unsettling questions about the people behind the messages, the possibility of coordinated manipulation, and the methods used to keep someone emotionally attached long after they recognize the fraud.

This is not simply a story about money lost to a scammer.

It is an examination of how control is established, how it is maintained, and what happens when the person being controlled begins to recognize the machinery behind it.

Once seen, it loses its power.