CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Clendenin woman is facing criminal charges for allegedly lying to family members about having cancer to scam money out of them.

Amanda Allen, 25, has been charged with financial exploitation of an elderly person, obtaining goods by false pretenses, and computer fraud, according to West Virginia State Police.

Troopers said Allen scammed two victims, her 67-year-old father and her 82-year-old grandmother.

According to the investigation, the fraudulent scheme allegedly took place between January and July of 2019 when Allen scammed the victims out of about $24,000, withdrawing into both their checking and savings accounts daily.

The criminal complaint states, “Some of the suspect checks noted ‘pills’ and ‘pills cancer’ on the memo portion of the checks written to the suspect defendant. The defendant did make false representations/claims to the victims that she was suffering from cancer and in need of medications and treatment for the cancer.”

Officials have said that Allen later admitted she had been lying. She is being held in the South Central Regional Jail on a $10,000 bail.