Have you seen The Tinder Swindler yet? Netflix has a new true-crime thriller that is trending as one of the most popular documentaries on the streaming network. The show tells the story of Simon Leviev and the three women he met on the dating app Tinder. The women say he scammed them out of tens of thousands of dollars by wining, dining, romancing, and lying to them about being not only the son of a billionaire diamond dealer but also about being in danger and on the run from faceless enemies. Leviev convinced his targets he was wealthy by taking them on private jet rides and buying them fancy hotel stays and huge bouquets of roses, but it turned out that the money he was spending on one woman was coming from another woman on the hook for his scam.
He would often send them videos like this one, showing them his “luxurious” lifestyle — all the while paying for it with a credit card he had scammed out of another woman, who took out bank loans to pay for it.
L’arnaqueur de Tinder est entrain de vivre sa meilleure vie en ce moment même #Tinder #simonleviev pic.twitter.com/ZP3le3ERBA
— Luna S. (@LunaSaltare) February 7, 2022
When the credit ran out, Leviev would ask the women to pawn their things to send him more money so he could run from his “enemies.”
This one takes the cake!!! 😳 #TheTinderSwindler #simonleviev pic.twitter.com/tnFqfkfSkM
— Ofentse Shezi (@OfentseShezi) February 5, 2022
Police chased him across several different countries and the story of his eventual arrest is worth watching during a relaxing evening on the couch. In the days that followed the release of the film, dating app sites Tinder, Match.com, and PlentyOfFish have banned him from their apps.
The Daily Mail reported that Leviev had been on the run from Israeli law enforcement since 2011 for fraud. When his crimes finally caught up with him, he was arrested and jailed for a measly five months. He has not been charged for defrauding the multiple women who have come forward for what authorities say could have amounted to over $7 million in grift.
One of the women in the Netflix documentary pulled the switcheroo on the scammer by scamming him herself, which ended up leading to his capture. I won’t ruin it for you, but it’s a fun moment when Leviev realizes his game has been turned on him.
What if I scam the scammer? #TheTinderSwindler pic.twitter.com/3Z8YpAZJDz
— Juju (@Jayonce_Inc) February 2, 2022
The end of the documentary revealed that after only five months in jail, Leviev is a free man living in Israel, where he is dating model Kate Konlin. The Internet is trying desperately to warn her.
Well I wonder what is going through the head of this girl right now #KateKonlin #simonleviev ❌❌ pic.twitter.com/UTZKU5fsss
— Maya Rosenbaum (@MayaRosenbaum) February 3, 2022
People are having a hard time understanding how women fell for this act. It does seem rather silly. Ladies, if a man takes you on one private jet ride and sends you some nice flowers and then asks you for $30,000 because “enemies” are after him, it’s a fair bet he’s a scammer. Don’t do it.
When I ask my girlfriend for her credit card, to buy some tickets to fly#Netflix#tinderswindler#SimonLeviev pic.twitter.com/w40US8ravv
— JONATHAN FERNANDEZ (@negrytomx) February 8, 2022
Perhaps one of the best parts of the show was revealing how Leviev started the con after the romancing and wining-and-dining part of the scam was over. The women, who all believed they were going to marry Leviev, would get a frantic message that “Peter,” Leviev’s bodyguard, had been harmed by faceless enemies. This message would accompany photos of Peter in an ambulance with blood pouring down his face. Leviev would frantically request thousands of dollars so they could escape on a plane, claiming his own money could be traced to him, and saying he would pay it back. The women would then take out loans to get credit cards for Leviev.
He never paid them back, of course. How did this work? It’s a fair bet that the promise of extreme riches was too intoxicating for the women to see through. He had all of them house shopping on the promise that they would move into some fabulous million-dollar apartment with him when he returned from his high stakes, dangerous “diamond” job.
Send money now!
My enemies are after me..Peter is DOWN.#TheTinderSwindler #simonleviev pic.twitter.com/lGCBMNxJPX
— Kello (@Kello_Lello) February 6, 2022
While everyone is pretty amused by this guy’s antics, it’s not amusing that he has not been held accountable for the millions of dollars he took from gullible women. He has not been charged with any crimes related to the women in the documentary, and the show did not explain why. It’s hard to believe no law enforcement was able to charge him, with the mountains of evidence the women have through messages and online communication with him. But the Internet is doing its best to exact revenge on the Tinder Swindler, and it’s on a crusade to have him banned from every dating app that exists. So far, they’re doing a pretty good job.
Many are concerned he’s still out there running his con. “That Tinder Swindler Simon guy is still free, meaning he is probably somewhere now convincing someone’s daughter that all these stories, hashtags, [and] documentary are the work of his enemies. And someone’s daughter will still believe [it],” wrote @AmeboSophie. That’s almost a certainty.
That Tinder Swindler Simon guy is still free, meaning He is probably somewhere now convincing someone's daughter that all these stories, hashtags, documentary are the work of His enemies. And someone's daughter will still believe sha.#TindlerSwindler #simonleviev
— GetYourPVC (@AmeboSophie) February 7, 2022
Leviev posted on Instagram before his account was deleted that he wants to tell “his side of the story.” He was given the opportunity to participate in the Netflix film but declined and threatened to sue them instead.
“Thank you for all your support. I will share my side of the story in the next few days when I have sorted out the best and most respectful way to tell it, both to the involved parties and myself,” he wrote. “Until then, please keep an open mind and heart.”
Before his Instagram was deleted, he made the outrageous claim that he was working for Netflix. “If I was a fraud why would I act on Netflix,” he said. “I mean they should have arrested me when we were still shooting. It’s high time the ladies start saying the truth.”
The ladies who say they were scammed and have had no justice started a GoFundMe page where they have raised some money to help recover their losses. “Shimon Heyada Hayut (who came to us under the pseudonym and fake personality of “Simon Leviev”) and his team of professional con artists, have defrauded all three of us for large sums of money,” they wrote.
The “Tinder Swindler” is streaming on Netflix now.
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