An "evil" fraudster from Bolton pretended to be dying from cancer to fleece a lonely widower out of £80,000. Phyllis Woods, 67, a gambling addict, also stole precious family heirloom jewellery from the victim after meeting him through an online dating website in 2017.
Carlisle Crown Court was told the man, in his early 70s, thought he had found true love, when in reality Woods had quickly started to manipulate him.
Prosecutor, Brendan Burke, said: "What in fact was happening was he was being targeted as a source of funding for her gambling-addicted and lavish lifestyle." Woods falsely claimed her accounts were frozen during an expensive United States divorce litigaton.
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