Qingpu district police have arrested a 22-year-old unemployed woman who scammed her uncle out of 160,000 yuan ($26,128) by claiming she could help get his son a job, police said Thursday.

The suspect, surnamed Xu, told her uncle in July 2012 that she could find a good job for his son if he handed over enough money to allow her to build up the necessary connections, according to a press release from the Qingpu District Public Security Bureau.

The uncle, surnamed Xue, had a 27-year-old son who was unemployed after graduation.

To convince Xue that her help was worth paying for, she lied and said she had a good job and lots of friends who could help get his son a job.

Xue paid Xu a total of 160,000 yuan on three separate occasions last year.

"Xue did not know much about his niece's circumstances because they lived far from each other," said Peng Liang, a press officer with the Qingpu District Public Security Bureau.

Through one of her friends, Xu got her cousin an internship at a law firm, police said. However, she told her cousin that he was working as a probationary employee and would be offered a job after three months.

She paid him 2,000 yuan a month, which she said was his probationary salary.

Xu's scheme fell apart when the law firm refused to hire her cousin at the end of three months. Xue talked to Xu and her father several times and eventually realized that it was a scam.

Police said that Xu and her father were unemployed. They had already spent the entire 160,000 yuan by the time she was caught.

Police have placed Xu and her father in criminal detention as they continue to investigate.