An old lag who lavished GBP 165,000 on his online girlfriend was astonished to learn that the beautiful nurse he had fallen for was his old prison cellmate.

The besotted ex-con – named only as Zhang in local media in Xiangtan County, southern China – showered ‘Ms Huang’ with cash and gifts.

He only discovered it was a scam when his suspicious father went to the address she had given and found out she did not exist.

The scam was pulled by a convicted fraudster named only as Ma who had befriended Zhang in jail when they shared a cell in 2019.

When Zhang was freed in 2020 he was contacted by someone claiming to be Ma’s wife who wanted to introduce him to ‘Ms Huang’.

In fact, both women were being played by veteran conman Ma, local media reported.

Despite handing over vast sums of money, Zhang had no idea he was being played even when ‘Ms Haung’ turned down requests for video calls.

When tracked down by Zhang’s father Ma agreed to pay back the CNY 1.3 million he had scammed but never did.

In the end, Zhang was forced to report the case to the police.

Ma was arrested, and in August 2022, and has been sentenced to 14 years and six months in prison for fraud.