BENEFITS cheats are being warned they will be hunted down after a woman claimed £28,000 for caring for foster children who did not exist.

Lisa Jensen, of Feering, will be electronically tagged after she admitted the fraud at Ipswich Crown Court.

An investigation by HM Revenue & Customs exposed the phoney claims, made over a period of several years.

Spokesman Bob Gaiger said: “The vast majority of tax credit claimants are honest, and claim only what they are entitled to.

“But those who think they can beat the system and gain advantage over everyone else without consideration or second thought should be worried.

“We will not hesitate to prosecute those who flout the law.”

Jensen, 40, of Domsey Chase, sent her first claim for tax credits and child care to Revenue and Customs in November 2005.

She then called the helpline numerous times over the following months to increase her claims, adding extra children and childcare costs each time.

To explain all the changes she said she was a registered foster carer.

But when investigators examined the paperwork, they found the fostering companies she had named either did not exist or were unconnected with childcare.

Jensen was handed an eight month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to pay costs of £500 within four months.

She will be tagged for three months and made subject to a curfew between 8pm and 6am.

Revenue and Customs will investigate further to find out how much of the £28,815 claimed by Jensen was banked, before bosses smelt a rat, to see if confiscation proceedings will be worthwhile.