A phrase for making up excuses?

I'm looking for a phrase or idiom for when someone is making up some tragic story to excuse themselves (such as: "Sorry I didn't show up; my father was diagnosed with cancer".. or "I can't keep our appointment; guess what I lost my job!"). And I got to think of a danish expression; "talking for one's sick auntie"; although that expression usually means doing a lot of talk to achieve some benefit. But my focus was particularly on making up excuses, and I was wondering if there might be a similar expression in english?

Solution 1:

The expression I always use in this situation is "The dog ate my homework!"

For example, someone gives a pathetic excuse for something, and the response is an ironic reply of "The dog ate my homework!" usually accompanied by eye-rolling.