A woman who used a picture of an attractive American woman to lure in victims of her online dating scam has been sentenced in court.
Jacqueline Whittle was charged after being caught using an image of a young woman to create fake profiles on dating websites to con men out of over £15,000.
Last week, Liverpool Crown Court heard of how the 50-year-old convinced one man to hand over £14,483 after telling him she needed to fund emergency cancer treatment.
The court heard the man had to use a critical illness payout, which he received due to a brain tumour, to pay for the treatment.
A second victim said he had fallen in love with Whittle after she told him she was working as a nurse in Southport.
The man lost a total of £1,650 to Whittle, after meeting her on a fundraising site for injured soldiers where she had added a fake photograph into an auction on the site, where the winner would get to take her on a date.
Prosecutor David Watson said: “He described himself as falling in love and believed she felt the same way.
“Although they never met he even sent her £220 to pay for a wedding dress as he believed the couple were getting married.”
Whittle’s was also found to have lied about struggling to pay bills, and received money off victims to pay vets and phone bills, petrol money and the installation of a Sky TV package.
The total amount she received from dating scams was £15,754.
Judge Anil Murray branded her actions as “callous frauds”, adding that Whittle is a “dishonest and deceitful person”.
He added: “You set up false profiles to dupe people out of money, people who were lonely and wanted companionship, and I’m sure this was your intention from the outset.
Her defence said she was experiencing low self-esteem, after using her own photo on dating sites and receiving no interest.
However, she was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to defrauding five men and conning a woman out of £360 for an iPhone.