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Tinder conman stole £3,000 from date after convincing her he needed new kidney
EXCLUSIVE: Rebecca Rouse, from Lincoln, met Paul Gillett on the dating app and fell for his charms, before he faked a kidney operation to get his hands on her cash
By
Katie Pearson
Rebecca Rouse has spoken out about her serial conman boyfriend, Paul Gillett, who faked a kidney transplant to swindle her out of her savings (Image: SWNS)
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Rebecca Rouse thought she had found Mr Right after falling for a man she met on Tinder.
Then just two months into their relationship, Paul Gillett told her he needed an urgent kidney transplant.
Smitten Rebecca transferred thousands of pounds into his account to help him pay private medical bills.
But she was heartbroken when he disappeared – and turned out to be a serial fraudster who also flogged fake Ed Sheeran tickets.
Rebecca, 35, said: “I still can’t believe the lengths he went to for money.
“When we first met, I really believed I’d found someone decent and that we had a lasting relationship.
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“He seemed so nice and it felt like there was potential for it to blossom into something long-term.
“It’s really shaken my trust in men. I’m still in a bad way because of him.”
Rebecca met 28-year-old Gillett after swiping right for him on dating app Tinder in February 2017.
He claimed to work as a funeral director and they messaged each other daily.
Rebecca was swindled out of her savings (Image: SWNS)
Tinder's most swiped-right man reveals it's all about swiping at 2pm on a Sunday
Rebecca said: “I’d been single since the beginning of 2015 so it took a lot to put myself out there again.
“He wasn’t like all the other people on Tinder and he appeared genuinely interested in me.
“All his messages were so flattering. Whenever I got one, it would put a huge smile on my face.”
After messaging for a couple of weeks, Rebecca exchanged numbers with the charmer and arranged to meet him after her shifts at a local Co-op.
She introduced Gillett to her mum Marianne, 65, who she lived with in Lincoln.
Rebecca said: “He came around the night we met and my mum really liked him. We started seeing each other most days and Paul was so generous.
“He’d take mum and me out for meals and insist on paying.
“He even mentioned taking me to see Ed Sheeran for my birthday, so everything was going really well between us.
“Paul was always talking about his family and showing us photos. He kept saying he’d arrange for us to meet.
“I never met his family or friends but he said they all lived in Cornwall.
“It was so far away I didn’t find it odd that I hadn’t met them yet. He kept talking about taking me with him the next time he went for a visit.
“He was so romantic and everything seemed perfect.”
The next month, Gillett moved in with Rebecca and her mum after he told her his flat had become uninhabitable after a storm destroyed his chimney.
Conman Paul Gillett convinced Rebecca to fork out £3,182 for his “private medical treatment” and travel in April 2017 (Image: SWNS)
Serial con artist tricks man into paying for mum's funeral - but she's not dead
She said: “When he told us he was having house repairs and looking for a hotel, my mum suggested he come and stay with us for a few weeks while it got sorted. She thought he was a decent guy so she didn’t think twice about inviting him to stay.”
Rebecca – who suffers from intracranial hypertension, caused by a build-up of fluid on the brain – felt a connection to Gillett after he opened up about his supposed health problems.
“Paul started telling me more about himself and mentioned a problem with his kidney,” she said.
“He told me he had an operation as a kid and he still had issues with it.
“I’d been in and out of hospital over the years with my condition so it was nice to meet someone who knew what it was like.”
One evening a few weeks later, Rebecca received a call from Gillett – who told her he had gone into hospital with kidney pains.
She said: “I tried to call him but he told me the signal was bad on the ward, so he couldn’t speak.
“He told me they were keeping him in on a drip and running tests. I was so worried.
“I wanted to go to hospital to be by his side but he insisted he was fine and couldn’t have a visitor.
“He was back after a few days and told me that he’d been put on dialysis.
“He even showed me the surgical dressing on his side after having treatment.
“He knew exactly what to say, so it was all very convincing.”
Gillett claimed he went for another hospital visit – where doctors told him he would need to go for an MRI and a kidney transplant.
The swindler convinced her to fork out £3,182 for his “private medical treatment” and travel in April 2017.
Rebecca was heartbroken when Paul disappeared – and turned out to be a serial fraudster (Image: SWNS)
She said: “He told me the waiting list on the NHS was too long and he’d have to go privately to a clinic he found in Cornwall. I transferred him the money from my savings account so he could cover the cost of a scan and his travel costs.
“But once he left, he got harder to reach and I started to get suspicious.
“He wouldn’t answer my calls and when he gave me his mum’s number, no one would answer that either.
“The whole situation was so stressful that it made my condition flare up. I got a horrible pain in my head and I collapsed. I was then rushed to hospital and they had to drain fluid off my brain.
“I threatened to call the police and he said he’d get my money back to me but I stopped hearing from him.”
Rebecca eventually tracked down Gillett’s parents online.
She said: “I had a phone call with his parents and they told me they hadn’t heard from him for eight months.
“They told me he wasn’t a funeral director and he never had any kidney problems.
“They kept saying sorry for what he’d done. It was all a lie. I was devastated.
“Paul had also left his car in front of our house the whole time he’d been gone and when my mum and I went to inspect it, we saw a packet of surgical dressings in there from Boots. We started to doubt anything he’d told us was truthful.”
Rebecca contacted the police and they informed her that Gillett was on their radar for selling fake Ed Sheeran tickets online.
Rebecca nearly lost hope that he would be caught but then she got a call from West Mercia Police this January.
The crook was put in the dock at Worcester Crown Court (Image: Getty Images)
In March, Gillett, of Carmarthen, South Wales, admitted three counts of fraud at Worcester crown court.
They included stealing from Rebecca and taking money for Ed Sheeran tickets he did not have.
The court also heard details of 19 further sales of non-existent tickets to Sheeran gigs and the sale of two drones and an iPhone that also did not exist.
Combined with his kidney con, Gillett raked in £7,500 from other scams. He was jailed for three years.
The judge heard that Gillett still owed £12,500 to victims of a fraud in 2012 but had not paid back a penny.
Rebecca, now a care home worker, said: “I was completely devastated and so disappointed when it all came out.
“I feel foolish for falling for his lies but I really believed he was a good guy and I thought we had something good.
“I spent years saving up the money.
“I was hoping to spend it on a holiday for my mum and me but it was all taken and I won’t get it back. I started to lose hope that the police would find him and then I got the call from them.
“I was so relieved, even though it bought it all back up again, but I’m glad to see that justice has been done.
“I haven’t spoken to him since he was sent to prison but I hope he’s having a tough time there.
“It takes a very weak individual to go out and do something so horrendous.
“I find it really hard to trust people now and it’s really knocked my confidence, especially because I was single for so long before – it took a lot for me to open and trust him.
“I’m still single at the moment and I’m happy with that. I’m taking some time to focus on myself.”
Tinder conman stole £3,000 from date after convincing her he needed new kidney
EXCLUSIVE: Rebecca Rouse, from Lincoln, met Paul Gillett on the dating app and fell for his charms, before he faked a kidney operation to get his hands on her cash
- SHARE
By
Katie Pearson
- 20:42, 10 AUG 2019
Rebecca Rouse has spoken out about her serial conman boyfriend, Paul Gillett, who faked a kidney transplant to swindle her out of her savings (Image: SWNS)
Get the biggest Daily News stories by email
See our privacy noticeMore newsletters
Rebecca Rouse thought she had found Mr Right after falling for a man she met on Tinder.
Then just two months into their relationship, Paul Gillett told her he needed an urgent kidney transplant.
Smitten Rebecca transferred thousands of pounds into his account to help him pay private medical bills.
But she was heartbroken when he disappeared – and turned out to be a serial fraudster who also flogged fake Ed Sheeran tickets.
Rebecca, 35, said: “I still can’t believe the lengths he went to for money.
“When we first met, I really believed I’d found someone decent and that we had a lasting relationship.
p:nth-of-type(6)","type":"performPlaceholder","relativePos":"after"}" data-placeholder-placeholder="" data-response-start="4247.504999861121" data-type="placeholder" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“He seemed so nice and it felt like there was potential for it to blossom into something long-term.
“It’s really shaken my trust in men. I’m still in a bad way because of him.”
Rebecca met 28-year-old Gillett after swiping right for him on dating app Tinder in February 2017.
He claimed to work as a funeral director and they messaged each other daily.
Rebecca was swindled out of her savings (Image: SWNS)
Tinder's most swiped-right man reveals it's all about swiping at 2pm on a Sunday
Rebecca said: “I’d been single since the beginning of 2015 so it took a lot to put myself out there again.
“He wasn’t like all the other people on Tinder and he appeared genuinely interested in me.
“All his messages were so flattering. Whenever I got one, it would put a huge smile on my face.”
After messaging for a couple of weeks, Rebecca exchanged numbers with the charmer and arranged to meet him after her shifts at a local Co-op.
She introduced Gillett to her mum Marianne, 65, who she lived with in Lincoln.
Rebecca said: “He came around the night we met and my mum really liked him. We started seeing each other most days and Paul was so generous.
“He’d take mum and me out for meals and insist on paying.
“He even mentioned taking me to see Ed Sheeran for my birthday, so everything was going really well between us.
“Paul was always talking about his family and showing us photos. He kept saying he’d arrange for us to meet.
“I never met his family or friends but he said they all lived in Cornwall.
“It was so far away I didn’t find it odd that I hadn’t met them yet. He kept talking about taking me with him the next time he went for a visit.
“He was so romantic and everything seemed perfect.”
The next month, Gillett moved in with Rebecca and her mum after he told her his flat had become uninhabitable after a storm destroyed his chimney.
Conman Paul Gillett convinced Rebecca to fork out £3,182 for his “private medical treatment” and travel in April 2017 (Image: SWNS)
Serial con artist tricks man into paying for mum's funeral - but she's not dead
She said: “When he told us he was having house repairs and looking for a hotel, my mum suggested he come and stay with us for a few weeks while it got sorted. She thought he was a decent guy so she didn’t think twice about inviting him to stay.”
Rebecca – who suffers from intracranial hypertension, caused by a build-up of fluid on the brain – felt a connection to Gillett after he opened up about his supposed health problems.
“Paul started telling me more about himself and mentioned a problem with his kidney,” she said.
“He told me he had an operation as a kid and he still had issues with it.
“I’d been in and out of hospital over the years with my condition so it was nice to meet someone who knew what it was like.”
One evening a few weeks later, Rebecca received a call from Gillett – who told her he had gone into hospital with kidney pains.
She said: “I tried to call him but he told me the signal was bad on the ward, so he couldn’t speak.
“He told me they were keeping him in on a drip and running tests. I was so worried.
“I wanted to go to hospital to be by his side but he insisted he was fine and couldn’t have a visitor.
“He was back after a few days and told me that he’d been put on dialysis.
“He even showed me the surgical dressing on his side after having treatment.
“He knew exactly what to say, so it was all very convincing.”
Gillett claimed he went for another hospital visit – where doctors told him he would need to go for an MRI and a kidney transplant.
The swindler convinced her to fork out £3,182 for his “private medical treatment” and travel in April 2017.
Rebecca was heartbroken when Paul disappeared – and turned out to be a serial fraudster (Image: SWNS)
She said: “He told me the waiting list on the NHS was too long and he’d have to go privately to a clinic he found in Cornwall. I transferred him the money from my savings account so he could cover the cost of a scan and his travel costs.
“But once he left, he got harder to reach and I started to get suspicious.
“He wouldn’t answer my calls and when he gave me his mum’s number, no one would answer that either.
“The whole situation was so stressful that it made my condition flare up. I got a horrible pain in my head and I collapsed. I was then rushed to hospital and they had to drain fluid off my brain.
“I threatened to call the police and he said he’d get my money back to me but I stopped hearing from him.”
Rebecca eventually tracked down Gillett’s parents online.
She said: “I had a phone call with his parents and they told me they hadn’t heard from him for eight months.
“They told me he wasn’t a funeral director and he never had any kidney problems.
“They kept saying sorry for what he’d done. It was all a lie. I was devastated.
“Paul had also left his car in front of our house the whole time he’d been gone and when my mum and I went to inspect it, we saw a packet of surgical dressings in there from Boots. We started to doubt anything he’d told us was truthful.”
Rebecca contacted the police and they informed her that Gillett was on their radar for selling fake Ed Sheeran tickets online.
Rebecca nearly lost hope that he would be caught but then she got a call from West Mercia Police this January.
The crook was put in the dock at Worcester Crown Court (Image: Getty Images)
In March, Gillett, of Carmarthen, South Wales, admitted three counts of fraud at Worcester crown court.
They included stealing from Rebecca and taking money for Ed Sheeran tickets he did not have.
The court also heard details of 19 further sales of non-existent tickets to Sheeran gigs and the sale of two drones and an iPhone that also did not exist.
Combined with his kidney con, Gillett raked in £7,500 from other scams. He was jailed for three years.
The judge heard that Gillett still owed £12,500 to victims of a fraud in 2012 but had not paid back a penny.
Rebecca, now a care home worker, said: “I was completely devastated and so disappointed when it all came out.
“I feel foolish for falling for his lies but I really believed he was a good guy and I thought we had something good.
“I spent years saving up the money.
“I was hoping to spend it on a holiday for my mum and me but it was all taken and I won’t get it back. I started to lose hope that the police would find him and then I got the call from them.
“I was so relieved, even though it bought it all back up again, but I’m glad to see that justice has been done.
“I haven’t spoken to him since he was sent to prison but I hope he’s having a tough time there.
“It takes a very weak individual to go out and do something so horrendous.
“I find it really hard to trust people now and it’s really knocked my confidence, especially because I was single for so long before – it took a lot for me to open and trust him.
“I’m still single at the moment and I’m happy with that. I’m taking some time to focus on myself.”
Tinder conman stole £3,000 from date after convincing her he needed new kidney
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