A glamorous gran who was conned out of £165,000 by a Tinder swindler dubbed the ‘Wolf of Walworth’ has told how the ordeal sent her spiralling into debt and a psychiatric hospital.
The widow who wished to remain anonymous, matched with a man purporting to be a tech entrepreneur behind the failed online vinyl marketplace Gemm.
The high-flying Tinder match, who called himself Humphrey, seemed to live a life of luxury smoking cigars & sunning himself at seaside resorts along the south coast.
Soon into the relationship, she was asked to open a line of credit in her name as a security measure to “protect” her new boyfriend by giving her name “as a cover”.
He instructed her to fill out documents for an American Express platinum card, reporting her income as £200,000.
She took out huge loans amid promises she would be paid back.
But the tech giant was really Mickey Jerome, a convicted conman who had already spent three years in jail for fly tipping, theft of copper & catalytic converters.
He spent thousands on boxes of rare cuban cigars from Sautters in Mayfair, handmade shoes from St James & selvedge denim.
The scam then attracted more women who were lured into the same cycle of deception and debt.
Jerome was arrested in June during a routine traffic operation, the van he was driving was untaxed & uninsured.