A fraudster who conned four women out of £40,000 told one of his victims he was in hospital with a heart condition when he was actually in court facing prison.
Ben Millin, 33, was described as ‘one of the most prolific’ criminals a police officer had ever seen after he was caught preying on victims by spinning a vast web of lies.
Fiona Mulkerrins-Dixon, 37, was defrauded out of £5,500 by Millin during an eight-month relationship in which he lied about dead family members, frozen bank accounts and a pregnant ex-fiancée.
He told Ms Mulkerrins-Dixon that he was visiting the hospital to see a doctor about a heart condition – but it later transpired that he had been in court over a fraud offence in 2020 where he conned a woman out of £20,000.
Millin admitted to four counts of fraud by false representation at Taunton Crown Court in July 2025.
He was sentenced to 34 months in prison, handed restraining orders preventing him contacting his victims and given a five-year serious crime prevention order.
Yet, after serving less than five months of his sentence, the ‘dangerous’ Millin is now free, according to Ms Mulkerrins-Dixon.
The victim, who suffers with PTSD due to the trauma inflicted by him, said: ‘Ben is a very evil and sick man. He is dangerous and is now out on the streets.
‘He completely broke me – I haven’t been living the past four years, I have been merely surviving. The only thing that motivates me is getting the truth out there about this man who has ruined many women’s lives.’
The former couple met in July 2021 at an after-work drinks event when they were both working at the same marketing firm in Exeter.
It took mere hours for Millin to unveil his first lie, at a time when Ms Mulkerrins-Dixon was vulnerable due to the sudden death of her dog, Reggie.
She said: ‘He told me his biological father had died in a car crash and he was born in Naples.
‘The next morning, Ben faked a text message from his “soon-to-be fiancé and girlfriend of 10 years” – who had allegedly been having an affair.
‘She was not real. He lied about everything – what didn’t he lie about? It makes me sick. I don’t even know the man I shared a bed with.’
Ms Mulkerrins-Dixon says Millin was ‘incredibly convincing’ and earned her sympathy because he claimed to have experienced many of the same traumas.
‘I thought we were two broken souls supporting one another,’ she continues. ‘Lifting each other up through these horrible hard times and loving each other through it.
‘We would laugh together, cook together. He was ambitious, successful at work and everyone loved him. Nobody else saw it – it wasn’t just me.
‘He even made another victim homeless: she was a teacher and had to sleep in her car because of how much he stole off her.
‘I feel sorry for my vulnerable self back then because I felt a lot of empathy for him. I had genuinely experienced many of the traumas he was describing.’
A short time later, the fraudster started asking Ms Mulkerrins-Dixon for large sums of money, claiming he himself was a victim of fraud and having trouble with frozen bank accounts.
He had previously been borrowing small amounts of cash from her, from £5 to £40, and swiftly paying them back to ‘gain her trust’.
But within months he had conned Ms Mulkerrins-Dixon out of some £5,500, which she described as ‘almost every penny she had’.
A couple of months later, in April 2022, Millins claimed to be going for a job interview in Bristol before taking her on holiday to London – though he then disappeared.
Worrying that Millins was ‘dead in a ditch somewhere’ amid his heart condition, Ms Mulkerrins-Dixon called every hospital and called police to find a missing person.
Millins was in fact at Taunton Crown Court.
She said: ‘I imploded and had the biggest panic attack. The truth hit me like a bomb.
‘I felt so let down and had lost all hope. He wasn’t the man I thought he was, he wasn’t at a job interview but was immediately imprisoned for ruining the life of another woman.’
DC Claire Morgan, officer in the case, said: ‘Ben Millin preyed on the goodwill of his victims by spinning a web of lies.
‘He tricked them into being sympathetic towards him.
‘I’ve been investigating crimes for 18 years and Ben Millin is by far the most complex character I have met in regards to the deceit and lies he managed to maintain. He was a master of manipulation.
‘By coming forward those women helped to protect others being targeted by him and potentially other crimes from happening.
‘Sadly, I have no doubt there will be other victims of romance fraud out there who will read their powerful testimonies and they will be going through the exact same pain and trauma.
‘Hopefully convictions like this give confidence to those people to report what has happened so we can help them.’
Following his release, Ms Mulkerrins-Dixon hopes to share her story to raise awareness of the ‘dangerous’ man and offer hope to other victims. She also wants to campaign for tougher sentences.
She added: ‘I was hesitant to press charges at first as I blamed myself and felt so stupid and embarrassed.
‘But the truth is these criminals have preyed on you, and you shouldn’t be embarrassed because you are a victim of abuse.
‘It is coercive control and you deserve to be protected. The more people that speak up, the harsher the sentences will hopefully become.’
The victim says she has now felt ready to ‘open her heart’ again and has rescued another dog called Rocco – and that has given her the strength to speak out.
She added: ‘It should not just be fraud! He ruined our lives and is now walking free.
‘A big reason why victims don’t come forward is because they don’t trust in the justice system.
‘I hope things change for future survivors. I hope my fight will be for something.’
