A north-east woman pretended she had been kidnapped and was in danger of being hurt in order to scare her boyfriend into paying to save her.
Rachel Skene messaged Charles Duncan in May this year telling him she was in danger.
After he ignored her, he later received messages from John Gaskill claiming Skene had stolen a watch from him and that unless money was paid into her account she would lose a hand.
Mr Duncan then went to the police who listened in on another call which came in and began to treat the case as a live kidnapping.
Gaskell claimed he was in Cowdenbeath but officers subsequently traced the pair in Aberdeen and found the phone which had been used to contact Mr Duncan.
The pair confessed to attempting to extort money from Mr Duncan by staging threats during an appearance in Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday.
The court heard Skene had performed the same trick on Mr Duncan in February 2016 where she got him to transfer £130 into her account by messaging him saying she needed money urgently.
Sheriff William Summers deferred sentence on Skene, of Oldcroft Road in Aberdeen, and Gaskell, of Lancaster Road in Liverpool, in order to obtain reports.
Aberdeen woman told former boyfriend she had been kidnapped
