Simon Leviev, Israeli con man (Twitter)
Tinder has always been a rather cold and oftentimes tricky way to meet people. Especially since it requires having to wade through a sea of strangers, narrowing them down and then holding a conversation with each of them to find out their intentions. Which, in most cases, are not usually pure if you catch my drift…
Attempting to not get kidnapped or getting your heart broken while navigating these murky waters can be difficult and, at times, make you question your life decisions. To add to that, as if meeting people wasn’t hard enough, you now have to add “avoid the man who claims he is the son of a diamond mogul” to the list.
Simon Leviev, the name on everyone’s lips, is a real piece of work according to Netflix’s new revealing documentary “The Tinder Swindler. If you haven’t managed to sit down and watch it yet, here is a breakdown.
Spoilers ahead.
The Tinder Swindler Breakdown
This documentary tells a story of a notorious conman who used the Tinder dating app to live a life of luxury while defrauding women across Europe.
The two-hour movie recounts real-life events of the serial fraudster, Simon Leviev, who managed to con an estimated 10 million dollars out of women that he seduced on the popular dating app.
In the documentary, Simon (born Shimon Yehuda Hayut), a convicted fraudster from Israel, claims that he is the son of billionaire Israeli diamond oligarch Lev Leviev on Tinder. Taking women all over the world on private jets and setting them up in five-star hotels while showering them with lavish gifts.
After a while of “dating”, he convinces these women that he works in the dangerous diamond business and that his enemies are after him. He then explains that he needs money to escape these enemies. He asks the women to establish lines of credit and loans in their names, and they do so with the promise of being paid back. But that day never comes.
The scandal-based documentary is a recount of shocking, yet heartbreaking events and stories told by Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Koeleman, three of the many women who fell victim to the Tinder Swindler.
How did he manage to get away with fraud if he was previously convicted?
Shimon Hayut jumped from one identity to another to keep the scam going. He was convicted of fraud in Finland under his birth name but carried out his Tinder con under the name Simon Leviev, claiming to be the son of wealthy diamond magnate Lev Leviev. Once his name was revealed in a VG expose, he assumed the name David Sharon to evade the authorities.
How did he eventually get caught?
One of Simon’s long-term girlfriends, Ayleen Koeleman, saw the VG piece and decided to turn the tables on him. After the story went viral, Leviev had to lay low so he turned to Ayleen, the only woman who he thought he could trust, but she had other plans. She convinced him that she could sell all his designer-brand clothes to make some cash. But instead of giving the money to Leviev, she kept it, swindling the Tinder Swindler herself!
As if that wasn’t payback enough, she figured out that Simon was headed for Greece and decided to give his flight information to the authorities. He was arrested in 2019 as a result sentenced to 15 months in prison for fraud in Israel soon after.
Simon has now been released from prison after only five months and according to the documentary, has tried since to rejoin Tinder but has subsequently been banned from the app.
