Smokers are being warned about a con used to trick a woman out of cash in Colchester.

The victim was in Osborne Street when a man walked up to her and offered 200 cigarettes for £10.

She handed over the cash and was given a Toni Braxton CD as security. Then the man walked off to get them from his car - but never returned.

Det Sgt Roger Napier, of Colchester CID, said: "The moral of the story is that if someone offers you something that seems too good to be true, it invariably is."

Published Friday April 9, 2004

Brought to you by the Evening Gazette