The Tinder Swindler on Netflix: The Story Behind Simon Leviev
The documentary series about Shimon Hayut who swindled women around the world out of millions via dating apps
What is the series about?
The Tinder Swindler on Netflix is a documentary portrayal of the Israeli con artist Shimon Hayut, who operated under the false name Simon Leviev. Through the dating app Tinder, he created an illusion of being the son of Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev. The series primarily follows three women, Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Charlotte, who all became victims of his emotional and financial manipulation. By showcasing a facade of extreme wealth with private jets, luxury hotels, and expensive dinners, he built trust that he later exploited to extort large sums of money from the women under the pretense that his life was in danger. The latest expansion of the story, Love Con Revenge, focuses on the legal aftermath and the victims' attempts to seek justice through private investigation.
The real case
The real case of Shimon Hayut is one of the most talked-about romance scam cases in recent times. Hayut employed a so-called Ponzi scheme, using money from new victims to finance the luxurious experiences he provided to his current targets. In this way, he always appeared as a man with unlimited resources. Once he had established a close relationship with a victim, he staged security threats and sent pictures of his allegedly injured bodyguard to convince the women to take out large loans and give him access to their credit cards. It is estimated that he defrauded approximately 10 million dollars across borders. Although he was sentenced to 15 months in prison in Israel in 2019, he was released after just five months due to the coronavirus pandemic, which sparked significant international outrage among his victims.
Timeline of the case
The case gained serious momentum in 2019 when Norwegian VG published an extensive exposé of Simon Leviev's methods. This led to a chain reaction, where police authorities in several European countries began sharing information. After his arrest in Greece in the summer of 2019, he was extradited to Israel. There, he was convicted of crimes committed in Israel, while many of the international fraud cases against him have still been difficult to prosecute due to complex jurisdictions. Following the release of the documentary in 2022, he was permanently banned from Tinder and all other platforms owned by Match Group, but he has continued to attempt to maintain a presence on social media, where he denies all allegations.