Great Western Coffee Shop

A warning has gone out to people not to waste their seasonal goodwill on a conwoman operating in the area.

Victim Wendy Thomson was taken in by the professional-looking woman outside Reading railway station but has now started a Facebook group to prevent others falling foul of the scam artist.

Several other people have posted their encounters with what appears to be the same woman operating around the town.

Ms Thomson believes it is the same swindler the Reading Post reported on back in November 2011.

The 36-year-old encountered the woman outside Reading station after a night out in London but it was only later she connected her to a similar incident in Emmer Green two years before.

She said: ^Her opening line was, ^Excuse me, have you seen any keys on your travels?^, then she says she^s lost her car keys and that she hasn^t brought her purse with her.

^She says she works in Reading and has to get to Swindon and she asks for ^20.^

Ms Thomson, of Emmer Green, continued: ^She^s very well spoken and well dressed. She does look like a professional who is having a bad time.

^I asked her lots of questions and she says she has tried everyone and still she needs help.

^She offers to take your address to pay you back.^

The woman convinced Ms Thomson to hand over ^7 and it was only when she got home she remembered seeing the woman before in Emmer Green spinning a similar story.

Ms Thomson started the Facebook group ^Female con artist/scam in Reading^ to try to stop the woman by sharing information and it now has 274 members, with some sharing similar experiences.

James Porter posted last Thursday that his girlfriend and he had been approached by a woman in The Oracle car park with the same story and had handed over ^20.

Simon Bell said he had a similar experience with the same woman at the M4 Reading Services where she was asking for money to buy fuel for her car.

He refused and later saw her eating a burger in the Calcot retail park and driving off in a red Ford Focus.

Ms Thomson also believes it was the same woman that scammed a couple in the Royal Berkshire Hospital car park in October, as reported in the Reading Post.

British Transport Police have posted signs in Reading station warning people to beware of people pretending their car has broken down or that they have run out of petrol.

Sergeant Rob Pile said: ^There was an incident where there was a lady begging and it appeared similar to incidents a couple of years ago.

^It^s something we don^t want to continue and if anyone is approached at the station they should alert a member of station staff.^

Back in November 2011, the Post reported on two elderly women who were tricked into handing over money to a woman in the Waitrose car park in Caversham.

Another couple then came forward saying they handed over ^20 to a woman who said her car had run out of petrol at the Meadway Precinct in Tilehurst.

Ms Thomson described the woman as a brunette, with hair tied back, slim, about 5ft 6in tall and in her 30s.

Victims of the scam should call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via the website www.actionfraud.police.uk.

Police are warning members of the public to be aware of a woman trying to scam money off people in car parks.

The con artist has been approaching individuals for money with a number of different reasons why she needs the cash.

Thames Valley Police say there have been eight incidents reported in the town centre between December 30 and Monday, January 20.

People have been approached in Queen's Road car park, Vastern Road car park, The Oracle Riverside car park, Garrard Street car park, Reading Station car park and near the Town Hall in Blagrave Street.

She has asked for amounts ranging from ^4 to ^20 and normally says she has lost her car keys and needs to get home to Swindon.

Inspector Keith Stacey, neighbourhood inspector for Reading town centre, said: "We would like all users of car parks to remain vigilant for this woman who has been targeting victims in car parks.

"She comes across as a professional woman, well dressed and spoken and gets the victim to buy into her story and give her money.

"If you suspect that things are not right, call Thames Valley Police and report the incident straight away."

The woman is described as white, between 30 to 50-years-old, with brown or black hair, between 5ft 5ins and 5ft 7ins tall, well spoken and smartly dressed.

The Reading Post reported in December how an Emmer Green woman was tricked into handing over ^7 to the con woman and believed she was the same trickster the paper reported on back in November 2011.

Victim Wendy Thomson started a Facebook page called 'Female con artist/scam in Reading' to alert people to the woman and it now has 540 members and messages from a long list of victims.

Anyone with information about the woman should call the police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

I must admit (shamefully) that a few years ago my daughter did phone Waterloo station and pay for a ticket back to Dorchester for me early on a Saturday morning under some arrangement that she just told me 'don't discuss anything; it's done!' And when I got to Waterloo I just got told 'Oh yes, we were waiting for you.'  SWT not so bad. (or maybe NR not so bad, can't remember who ran the travel centre at the time.)