IT’S a sad fact but few of us will go through life without coming into contact with con artists.

We regularly read of bogus workmen offering to carry out work about a property who persuade the householder to hand over a proportion of the money up front supposedly to buy materials. The so-called workmen are never seen again.

More sophisticated are the telephone scams where people are conned into supplying bank details — and then their account is fleeced.

These crooks are people the victim will have had no previous knowledge of and likely will never know who they were. The experience of being conned is even more vexing if the culprit is someone previously regarded as an utterly trustworthy friend. A woman down south has just been jailed after pleading guilty to conning six friends out of £2.5 million.

She had been close to the victims for many years.

The crook lived the high life and gave the impression she was a successful interior designer who made a lot of money through property dealing. She conned her friends by offering them ‘a piece of the action’.

I understand one person handed over £722,500 while another gave the woman more than £1,050,000. Police have said none of the ‘investors’ will ever see their money again. It’s all gone funding the crook’s extravagant lifestyle.

It’s odd but many of the most outrageous swindlers are later described to have been regarded as popular. At any given time, our jails are providing free board and lodging to people previously considered pillars of the community.

Around 40 years ago, I was away from home for several weeks on a course. On the second last day of the course a fellow student asked if I would loan him £18 outstanding on his accommodation bill.

He reneged on a promise to post the money to me. After more promises over the phone, I wrote the £18 off because he lived too far away for me to confront him in person.

It may come as no surprise that he was possibly the most popular student on the course.