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Police: Woman faked cancer to scam $30K from elderly man

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — An 82-year-old Sandy Springs man says he met a young woman at a local grocery store and she later took him to the cleaners.
 
Now, police are looking for Sophie Adams on charges of elderly exploitation, saying she defrauded the man out of more than $30,000 by claiming she needed the money for cancer treatments. Police say the cancer story was untrue.
 
"She was real sweet and real nice to me," the man told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik on the condition of anonymity.  "I thought she was an honest person."
 
The victim told Petchenik he met Adams at a Kroger off Roswell Road earlier this month and she befriended him. 
 
"My wife died four years ago and I'm beginning to feel lonely," he said.
 
The said he believed Adams' cancer story at first and even opened a joint bank account with her so he could more easily give her money. 
 
Officials at a Wells Fargo bank branch, however, became suspicious and contacted police about the large money transfers and the circumstances surrounding them.
 
"She didn't have cancer," said Captain Steve Rose.  "We are actively looking for her."
 
Rose said police believe Adams may have victimized others.
 
"I'm sure this has happened before and in some cases I think the crime's not reported out of embarrassment or they don't want to get involved in the prosecution end of it," he said.
 
Rose said Adams and her attorney attempted to have the charges dropped in exchange for her returning the money, but he said the crime had already been committed and police would not do that.
 
The victim told Petchenik he's been repaid $12,000 from the joint account, but he's hopeful to recover the rest.
 
"She's the best con artist I've run across," he said.