(KAIR)--An investigation that saw a Leavenworth County woman lose over $94,000 in a celebrity imposter scam engineered by a network of individuals living outside of the United States has recently concluded without criminal charges being able to be filed.

According to a release from the office of Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson, the “catfish” scam parallels a story involving recent claims by a Kentucky woman saying she was scammed by an online scam artist who talked her into sending $10,000 in gift cards. The woman claimed she thought she was sending the gift cards to an actor who starred in the Netflix series Stranger Things.

County Attorney Todd Thompson is issuing the scam advisory to prevent others from becoming victims of similar schemes, saying in a release that while he would "love to pursue charges," the fact is that such "internet scams are rarely solvable, and some of the hardest cases to prove because scammers could be anywhere in the world.”

Details of the scam emerged when the victim approached law enforcement. During multiple interviews with investigators, the victim detailed a story claiming that someone who claimed to be country music singer Neal McCoy coerced her into sending them cryptocurrency, cash, cell phones, passwords, gift card account numbers, and proceeds from selling an antique vehicle. The victim stated she met McCoy on a dating website in August 2021.

The victim went as far as attending a concert and reaching out and contacting the real McCoy's staff before discovering the scam. Even after making contact, the victim found it difficult to realize the truth of this scam.

The victim would eventually be coerced into sending the scammers her personal information and new cell phones with active lines. Once the scam artists had her information, her account passwords were changed, and new credit card accounts were created.

After an exhaustive investigation involving the County Attorney's Office, local law enforcement partners, and the FBI, it was determined that the scammers were located in another country.”