AFTER waving her boyfriend off for a job interview, Fiona Mulkerrins-Dixon finished packing her bags for their impending mini-break, feeling excited about the future.
But hours later, her lover had vanished without a trace… and a quick Google search brought her world crashing down.
Fiona Mulkerrins-Dixon didn’t know it but her boyfriend Ben was spinning her a web of lies from the get-go Credit: SWNS
Serial romance fraudster Ben Millin’s deception saw a string of girlfriends conned out of thousands Credit: SWNS
Ben Millin, then 29, hadn’t sat before an interview panel in – he’d been in the dock at Taunton Crown Court, and found guilty of an ex-girlfriend of £20,000.
He hadn’t returned home because he’d been jailed for two years, with the shocking details of his deception plastered over a local newspaper website.
“When I saw that article, I was frozen with shock,” says Fiona. “Then the truth hit me like a bomb and I realised I didn’t know the man I shared a bed with.
“He completely broke me. I couldn’t eat, sleep and wanted to kill myself after I realised who he really was.
“I’d felt sorry for him, he’d been through so much – but it was all lies.”
The heartbreaking betrayal unfolded in April 2022 – nine months after Fiona, 37, a business development manager, met Millin on a night out while working at the same marketing firm in Exeter.
“Ben came across as very quiet and reserved, but funny,” she recalls.
“He would come out with these little one liners that made the whole group crack up.”
Fiona didn’t know it, but Ben was spinning her a from the get-go.
“He said he was born in Naples to an Italian father who had died in a car crash and his birth name was Benjamin Georgio Inlaghi,” she says.
“It was all rubbish. He was born in Yeovil and his supposed stepdad is his real dad.
“He said he’d been in a relationship with a girl called Harriet for ten years and showed us all a photo.
“He crashed at my place with some other work colleagues and the next morning he told me Harriet had confessed to cheating on him.
“I found out later Harriet didn’t exist. I have no idea who the girl in the picture was.”
He told me he loved me quite soon into the relationship and I thought he was my soulmate
Fiona and Ben talked more over the next few weeks and grew closer.
“He said he had a younger sister called Isabella, who was 18 months younger than him, who died tragically from ,” she says.
“He described her dying in her hospital bed, crying in his arms. He would talk often about Isabella, how he missed her, the holidays they had, the music festivals they went to.
“He said he had a physics degree from Manchester University.
“He told me he had a heart condition. I’d had some health issues myself. I felt sorry for him.
“I thought we’d connected, lifting each other up through these horrible hard times.”
Ben was gambling away more than £5,500 a month Credit: SWNS
Fiona, pictured with her rescue dog Rocco, thought Ben was The One before she learnt the heartbreaking truth Credit: SWNS
None of this was true, but Fiona says Millin was utterly plausible.
“They were taken in by him at work,” she says. “He was promoted to team leader. Everyone loved him.”
Within a couple of weeks, Fiona and Milin started .
“The romance grew very quickly,” she says.
“I’d never felt this way before and he moved in with me in September 2021.
“We would laugh together, cook together. We were really close.”
Fiona thought she’d finally met The One and started planning their future together.
“He told me he loved me quite soon into the relationship and I thought he was my soulmate,” she says.
Fake phone calls
But within a couple of months, Millin started asking Fiona for money, brazenly claiming that he was a.
“He said his ex-girlfriend cleared out their joint account and so he was defaulting on their mortgage,” she says.
“His own bank account had been frozen. So I paid phone , gave him for a friend’s stag do, all sorts of things.
“By the January, I’d given him every penny I had – £5,500. I had been in a car accident and it was a lump sum paid by the . He told me his mum would pay me back.”
Fiona had never been introduced to Mullin’s family, despite dating him for nearly a year.
“We went to his parents house once when they were away but I never met them,” she says.
“Ben would fake phone calls with his dad in front of me.
“When I reached out to them after he disappeared they had no idea who I was.”
By the January, I’d given him every penny I had – £5,500… He told me his mum would pay me back
Then things took a sinister turn in January 2022 after Fiona went on a night out.
When she got back, Millin told her something was wrong with her beloved rescue dog, Reggie.
Fiona rushed to the French bulldog – but he was dead.
“Reggie had been diagnosed with an inoperable tumour, but he was comfortable,” says Fiona, who had spent a fortune on vet bills for her pet, was distraught over his sudden and unexplained death.
“He was not expected to die suddenly,” she adds.
On April 22, 2022, Fiona and Ben decided to go to London for three nights, after he’d been to a job interview.
Fiona was tricked out of thousands of pounds by fraudster Ben Credit: Fiona Mulkerrins-Dixon / SWNS
Fiona was signed off from work and later diagnosed with PTSD over the betrayal Credit: SWNS
“He left early in the morning and was talking to me up until midday,” says Fiona.
“Then it all went quiet and he didn’t respond to my calls and texts.”
By 6pm, Fiona was desperately calling around hospitals.
“I was beside myself. I thought he was dead in a ditch somewhere after experiencing heart failure,” she recalls.
“I filed a report and a police officer turned up just before the friend who I’d messaged for help.
“She Googled his name and that was it. She came straight round, sat me down and said: ‘Ben’s not who you think he is’.”
The details were shocking. Millin had told his ex, a teacher, that he worked in international markets but needed cash because he was the victim of identity fraud.
His lies were exposed after PayPal asked the woman to verify an account set up in her name she knew nothing about.
“I thought, this can’t be true,” says Fiona.
“The article even gave his address in Exeter – my address. It said his victim was homeless, showering and eating at her place of work.
“I was so shocked, I imploded, I had a panic attack. I felt like I’d lost all hope in everything. I never heard from him after that.”
He is a predator who preys on vulnerable women. It scares me – he scares me. He’s a sociopath who enjoys manipulation
Fiona was signed off from work and later diagnosed with .
Meanwhile, Millin was released in December 2022 after just four months in .
But he’d not learned his lesson. Within six months he’d met a woman called Charlotte and defrauded her of £20,000.
He also took out in the name of Charlotte’s landlady, Sophie, and told another woman, Chloe, that he was a psychologist for Team GB.
He was arrested again in March 2024 and the police asked Fiona if she would press charges alongside the three new victims.
“I was hesitant as I blamed myself and felt so stupid,” she says.
“But the truth is these criminals have preyed on you and you shouldn’t be embarrassed because you are a victim of abuse.”
How to tell if your man is a con artist – and what to do about it
PSYCHOLOGIST Emma Kenny says: “Men like Ben Millin tend to follow a disturbingly consistent psychological script.
“They fast-track intimacy and declare intense feelings early, which creates a sense of emotional dependence before trust has been properly earned.
“This is known as love bombing, and it’s highly effective because it bypasses rational scrutiny and taps straight into emotional need.
“These kinds of con artists don’t immediately start asking for money but when they do, they wrap the need for it in a crisis, so victims will be sold stories about frozen accounts or sudden emergencies.
“The reality is that if a partner asks for money, particularly early on, that should be seen as a red flag.
“The safest response is simple: don’t send it. A legitimate partner will respect boundaries; a conman will escalate pressure or guilt.
“Other warning signs include inconsistent stories, unverifiable details about family or work, frequent cancellations and a pattern of drama.
“These individuals are often highly observant, mirroring what their victims want emotionally, which is why they feel so convincing.
“If you discover deception, disengage immediately. Do not confront it alone, and avoid trying to recover money directly. Report it, document everything, and lean on support.”
In July 2025, Millin returned to Taunton Crown Court and admitted four counts of fraud by false representation, having conned an estimated £30,000 to £40,000 out of his four victims.
It turned out he had been frittering away £5,500 a month online.
Millin was jailed for 34 months but released less than five months later and is free to prey on women once again.
Fiona was in court for the sentencing and says Millin showed no remorse.
‘Evil man’
“When I walked in I thought I was going to be terrified but I just stared at him,” she says.
“I was proud of myself for that. He wouldn’t make eye contact with me.
“But I never got my money back and I’ll never see it.”
Nine months on, Fiona admits she is still fragile but feels ready to “open her heart” again and has rescued another dog called Rocco.
“I’ve got a ten-year restraining order, but I worry what he’ll do next,” she says.
“He is a predator who preys on vulnerable women. It scares me – he scares me. He’s a sociopath who enjoys manipulation.
“He is a very sick and evil man.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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