A door to door loans agent stole almost £50,000 to feed her addiction to high stakes fruit machines.
Mother-of-three Sarah Pollard filled out application forms in the names of real people who she visited on her rounds in Exeter and East Devon but pocketed the money herself.
She was caught after a horrified family complained to the payday lending company that they had been lumbered with a £1,100 debt which they had not taken out.
Pollard swindled £49,795 from Greenwood Personal Credit but used some of it to make repayments which prevented her scam coming to light earlier.
She spent the money on her addiction to fruit machines which snowballed from £20 to £30 a night to a massive £700 to £800 a night, Exeter Crown Court was told.
Pollard, aged 40, of Willeys Avenue, Exeter, admitted five frauds and asked for another 45 to be considered.
She was jailed for eight months, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work by Judge Francis Gilbert, QC.
He told her the only reason she was not going to jail was because she is the sole carer for her two sons and a daughter, all aged ten or under, one of whom is autistic and one epileptic.
He told her:"You created fraudulent transactions to obtain dishonestly significant sums of money for yourself.
"You used the money to find your addiction to gambling on fruit machines and to pay off the earlier loans. You told the police at first you were spending £20 to £30 a night on the machines but it ended up at £700 to £800.
"This offence involved a breach of trust. You took out loans in the names of real people and no doubt caused them considerable concern when they discovered what you had done.
"You had the good sense to bring this dishonesty to an end yourself and contact the police to confess, which is unusual and goes very much in your favour.
"It seems to me the loan company did make it rather too easy for you to fall into temptation, given that you made the credit checks, allocated payments, and kept a cash float."
Mr Gordon Richings, prosecuting, said Pollard started work for the company in 2011 and began stealing early last year.
She filled out bogus application forms in the names of real people, forged their signatures, and paid herself the money. The total amount was almost £50,000 but she also made repayments on the bogus loans, meaning the loss to the firm was £27,775.16.
He said she went to the police after learning that the company were investigating a complaint from a customer who was mystified to learn she had taken out loans of £700 and £400 when she had not done so.
Mr James Calderbank, defending, said his client had shown genuine remorse and was terrified she may be parted from her three children.
