"I got to know him over about a year. He seemed quite friendly - that's how he gets people I think. He's very pleasant," Hird said.
He alleged Dixon told him he could buy a repossessed vehicle at a reduced price and Hird said he paid $29,000.
However he never saw the vehicle or got his money back, he said.
Hird decided to "set a trap", which he said caught Dixon attempting to con someone else into giving him money for a car.
Hird then reported Dixon to the police, he said.
He warned others to beware of Dixon, whom he said "needs to be put away for a long time."
In September last year, Ms Gomm met Dixon on the internet but knew him only by the fake name he gave her - Antonio Almendaz.
A family member, who did not want to be named, said the couple had compiled a guest list and Ms Gomm had started looking for wedding dresses.
But the deception was revealed when Dixon was stopped by police near Wairoa in February and arrested.
Dixon was sentenced in the Gisborne District Court to 27 months in prison after pleading guilty in August to six charges of obtaining by deception.
He has admitted seven other charges of obtaining by deception and will be sentenced for those this month.
As Ms Gomm planned their future together, her family became concerned about her new partner as there were "alarm bells all over the place", said the relative.
"He said he was a champion kickboxer and that he was a bodyguard to the stars."
A relative of Ms Gomm said she is studying at a polytechnic while trying to rebuild her life.
- additional reporting Gisborne Herald
