A pair of modern-day Artful Dodgers have been conning Good Samaritans out of cash by spinning them tales of woe.
The duo - who operate separately - fleece their kind-hearted victims by pretending to have run out of petrol.
George Cheyne realised she had been conned after the women tricksters targeted her twice in two days.
"I fell for it once and gave her a couple of quid, and one of the lads at work gave the other a fiver.
"Then the next day they tried it on again."
The conartists realised they had been rumbled and ran off.
Account manager Mrs Cheyne was first targeted in Colchester town centre and again at work on Whitehall industrial estate.
The crooks are also believed to have struck in Old Heath Road and Grange Way.
"They knock on people's car doors and workplaces saying they have run out of petrol and asking for a couple of quid," said Mrs Cheyne.
"If you do that to ten or 20 people in a day you can earn yourself a pretty packet."
- Anyone with information should call Colchester police on 0300 333 4444.
- More in today's Gazette
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