Tesco repays terminally ill pensioner scammed out of £140k by conman pretending to be legendary guitarist

Horwood had been duped into buying hundreds of Apple gift cards - and thought that due to "Blackmore's" fame, she couldn't tell anyone about their conversations online.

The 81-year-old, who has since been diagnosed with terminal cancer, was left without enough money to fulfil her final wishes or leave anything for her children.

One of said children, 58-year-old daughter Debbie, said: "She showed me her banking app and it was all gone. She was pulled into a false sense of security thinking she had this really good friend who was a famous person. She really did not believe us when we told her that it was a scam.

"Her world just completely fell apart. She couldn't comprehend what had happened. It is a hard thing to take on that you have just given all of your money away to a scammer."

"It is a very crafty scam. I have been through the worst emotional rollercoaster with it all."

Despite reaching out to banks, police, their local MP and the financial ombudsman, the family have been told that recouping Horwood's money will take some time, those close to the pensioner have said that only Tesco has paid out the £12,500 spent there.

The scammer had been talking to the 81-year-old through messaging app Signal - then, when she removed that, she started receiving threatening texts over WhatsApp.

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Her daughter added: "We all went into shock. My mum is not a stupid old lady... She is very streetwise and very switched on.

"She was probably quite lonely. She was enjoying the chats that they were having.

"It is quite heartbreaking that she was sucked in. I never would have guessed that my mum would be so vulnerable like that.

"We are fighting for justice for my mum and to recoup her money so that she can decide what she wants to do with it in her time left.

"My mum may need to go to a nursing home soon, and that's what she could be using her money for. Not for some scammers to go and buy a Rolex watch or a smart car."

Horwood had dreamed of visiting her grandson in Antigua - a trip the family can no longer afford.

But alongside the supermarket, a former colleague and friend of Debbie's, Surjit Sonik from nearby Surrey Heath, has launched a JustGiving campaign to help claw back some of the pensioner's money.

Sonik, 58, said: "I was absolutely horrified when I found out what had happened. Valerie is one of the nicest people you can come across.

"I wanted to raise funds so that she can do anything she wants while she still can. Any excess will go to charity.

"The family went through so much and Valerie was really mentally affected by what happened. The money that she wanted to leave for her children or use for herself in old age is gone.

"This is happening to so many vulnerable people and there is not enough being done to stop it," Sonik added, and lamented how Horwood had worked her whole life just to have her money "cruelly robbed".

A Tesco spokesman said: "We take a number of precautions to protect our customers from gift card fraud, including limiting the number and value of gift cards that can be bought in one transaction."

The supermarket added: "We are working with industry bodies to raise awareness of gift card fraud and have partnered with UK Finance on their Take Five To Stop Fraud campaign. We were the first supermarket to introduce scam warnings at our gift card displays in stores."