Expat communities attract con-men. Spain's "Costa del Crime" was once a fraudster's preferred European hunting grounds but the noose is tightening there as Costa expats become more and more wary of shifty deals by foreigners. These days, Spanish authorities are less inclined to look the other way when one expat swindles another.

You don't have to be dim and gullible to be conned and it's needlessly glib to say that a victim's own naiveté is what brought him down. After all, many of Bernie Madoff's chumps were bankers and financial professionals who "should have known better".  The brilliant front-line journalist Clare Hollingworth was recently swindled out of her life savings by a fraudster in Hong Kong where she had retired. Anyone can be conned. Even you.

In June, Briton Warren Templeton was sentenced by a French court to two years for his "Dordogneshire" bogus investment scheme which drained two million euros from expatriate retirees in France. The prosecutor showed that Templeton had changed his name from Graham Briggs in 1997 and "came to France to start over" as a fraudster. "He is someone who polishes his appearance, tries to be seductive," she said. "He is a crook who stole the life savings of his compatriots."

Templeton was still at large a month after his sentence was pronounced and his current whereabouts is unknown. If he has made it back to the UK, there's little chance he'll be sent back to serve his sentence in France.  It's rare that Britain extradites its own nationals.

Removals scamster Melanie (who also goes under the name Frances, Jenny, Patricia, Sally and several others) is still operating on the Riviera. You can read about her in Riviera Reporter issue 119.

Up to the Gills

Paul Gill is a convicted fraudster now preying on Riviera expats. Shortly after one of his Riviera victims contacted the Reporter, several others came forward. Our file on him is growing by the day.

Sentenced to 18 months in jail by a New Zealand court, Gill was found guilty of multiple offences and he is an undischarged bankrupt in his home country. Like Melanie/Frances he uses many names and is up to many scams. He'll just as easily promise to do construction work on your house as he will propose to renovate your furniture. He has been unwilling (or unable) to show that he is a legal resident of France and there is no record of a business here in his name. He is trading illegally as well as dishonestly.

Paul Gill's methods are simple and effective. He looks and acts credible, asks for a deposit in cash or by cheque with the order not written in, and disappears with the money only to make excuses when asked for it back. He always has a story ready: "I'll sort it out next week", "A mate will soon lend me the money to pay you", "I'm the victim in all this", "Send me your banking details". He contests everything his victims claim. These delaying tactics work until a victim runs out of patience and puts some pressure on. Then Paul brazenly threatens to "start again" somewhere else. Taking with him any chance of his punters getting their money back, of course. Gill told one of his Riviera victims that he came to the Riviera with a suitcase and could easily go off to Paris with it at any moment.

Not if a few people file complaints, he won't.

How do they get away with it?

A gendarme told me that if expat victims aren't concerned enough to step forward to file complaints, then why should the police care enough to get involved? That's a point the guilty use to help perpetuate their misdeeds.

The way to stop swindlers is to report them to the French police but why do so few expats actually do this? Embarrassment and the wish to "put it all behind us" certainly plays a part. Language is sometimes a barrier. But there's also the fear of reprisals and the apprehension that the expat's personal finances will be looked into if cash payments have been made. The police assure us this would not be the case. They're not at all interested in where you got a few thousand euros in cash. And a formal complaint is the best protection against reprisals.  What a copper really wants is a fraudster's conviction on his arrest record.

Scamsters themselves are usually too cunning to take their detractors to law. When the Riviera Reporter exposed Melanie/Frances back in January of 2007, we hoped she'd be brazen enough to counterattack with a libel suit. She didn't and we're still waiting for the chance to lay our considerable file in front of a court. But we haven't given up hope - one day she'll go one step too far. All it will take is for a victim to file a complaint through a lawyer and to ask us to tell a court what we know. We've got plenty of papers in storage with trusted parties to hand over to the judge.

Paul Gill could be Melanie/Frances' twin brother, so similar are their methods. Each uses greed and sympathy to the best effect. As financial journalist Tony Hetherington told me, "greed is a vital weapon in many a conman's arsenal". He didn't mean the fraudster's greed; he was talking about our own.

A "good deal" sometimes seems just too good to refuse. Melanie/Frances often hooks her victims by quoting a fraction of the normal price for removals jobs. It's tempting for expats to take her up on it but many Riviera victims have lost their cash deposits as well as the possessions they trusted her to move.

Giveaway traits

Every con-man has a sob story ready to go. Melanie and Paul are no exceptions. Either their spouse is ill or their children are hungry or their dog just died. Neither of them hesitate to stoop to using their own children as part of their scams. Melanie once registered a "business" in the name of her then underaged son. Poor kid.

Arrogance is a typical trait in these bottom feeders who construct plausible facades to help their cause. Security "professional" Tim Williams once hosted "Crimewatch" on Riviera Radio and used this as a sure sign of a respectability he could not otherwise claim. "Crimewatch" became "Slimewatch" after Williams was convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to two years by a French court. He slipped off to Britain before sentencing and is still there.

Paul Gill advertised his dodgy services on a Riviera website but the site removed his posts when he was denounced by a couple of his victims. This is further evidence that victims shouldn't be shy. If no one had spoken up, the site couldn't have known that a con-man was using their services and others would have been taken in.

There are several things to watch out for if you suspect a con. Does the deal seem too good to be true? Is the person too "charming" to be real? Does he insist on dealing only in cash or an open cheque? Does he spin a sob story? Is he hard to contact? Does he switch phone numbers often? Does he have a landline or just a mobile which could easily be an anonymous pay-as-you-go? Does he seem to use more than one name? Can he show credible credentials of who he is? If the deal involves building or removals or any other business transaction, can he prove that he's registered and legit? Don't just accept any old registry number. Check it out on line. Get receipts and estimates on paper... always. An honest trader would never refuse such a request.

Come forward

At the moment we'd like to hear from anyone who's had shady (or otherwise) dealings with Paul Gill or the annoying small time Geordie fraudster Andrew Gradon (see here ) who operates out of airports.

Post your comments and opinions here but don't make any accusations that you can't substantiate or won't bear witness to. The police will need hard facts to secure a conviction. If you prefer to remain anonymous to the general public, contact us with your story at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and we'll see what can be done. We will respect your wish to remain discrete,

Stand up for yourselves. If you're a victim of fraud we'll try to help but you must take the first step. And do remember that one accusation isn't enough. To get a conviction or your money back it will probably need several witnesses to come forward and as much hard evidence as possible.

In some cases, we already have enough.

Mike Meade