‘The Tinder Swindler’: Simon Leviev Is Still So Desperate for Fame That He Got Scammed Out of $7K Via Instagram
In February 2022, Netflix dropped its true-crime documentary, The Tinder Swindler. It has since become wildly popular thanks to its story of intrigue full of lavish living, beautiful women, and extensive fraud. The story may be told thanks to Netflix, but it is far from over for The Tinder Swindler.
Netflix tells the true-crime story of Simon Leviev, ‘The Tinder Swindler’
According to People, The Tinder Swindler “chronicles the real-life events of a serial fraudster who conned an estimated $10 million dollars out of women he attracted on Tinder’s popular dating app.”
The real Tinder Swindler is better known as Simon Leviev. He was born Shimon Hayut. But he changed his name after fleeing to Europe to avoid fraud charges in Israel and Finland. Hayut claimed to be the son of a billionaire Israeli diamond oligarch, Lev Leviev, who worked in that dangerous business. They are not related in any way.
The Tinder Swindler is told through the stories of three of his victims: Cecilie Fjellhoy, Pernilla Sjoholm, and Ayleen Charlotte.
The Tinder Swindler explained that Hayut would use Tinder to attract women using his alleged affluent lifestyle thanks to the lucrative diamond industry. Once the long-distance relationship was established, Hayut would ask for thousands of dollars to help him escape the dangers of his world. Unbeknownst to his current victim, he was living lavishly off the money he swindled from his previous victim.
Hayut did serve two years in a Finnish jail. When he was released in 2015, he was a wanted man in multiple countries. He got caught in Greece in 2019 thanks to attempting to use a fraudulent passport and was deported back to Israel.
Hayut was sentenced to 15 months in jail for fraud, theft, and forgery. He was released on good behavior after 5 months. Leviev is now banned on Tinder.
Simon Hayut continues to seek fame
Now that Hayut is out of prison he remains active on social media. He continues to live his lavish lifestyle of designer clothes, private jets, and expensive cars thanks to the millions of dollars he defrauded from his victims.
Hayut once had a website where he offered business advice for over $300. But, that website is currently out of commission.
According to Complex, Hayut is charged $20K to make an appearance at clubs. Establishments in Philadelphia, Germany, and Mexico have requested his presence at their clubs. Hayut is happy to oblige with a few stipulations: bottle service, a private jet, a suite at a five-star hotel, a black SUV car service, and two security guards.
Hayut’s efforts to become even more famous got him in trouble and scammed. According to NewstalkZB, he lost $7K to an Instagram influencer.
Hayut received a message from an influencer posing as a woman whose boyfriend works for Meta, Instagram’s parent company. She said she could get his account verified for the much sought-after blue check mark. Hayut sent the money and then quickly realized he’d been scammed.
The real Leviev family is suing ‘The Tinder Swindler’
Hayut may be living the high life, but his troubles are not over. The real Leviev diamond mogul family is suing him.
Chagit Leviev, daughter of Lev Leviev told Page Six, “We have suffered from the ‘Tinder Swindler’ for years. We knew he was defrauding companies and other women that reached out. We tried so hard to make him stop and fight him and report him to police.”
Chagit continued, “Once I saw the show coming out, I saw it’s game over for him…You can no longer pretend who you are, you can no longer manipulate and lie to women. You’re busted, Everyone saw you…In his head, he owned this company which is very sick and very crazy.”
The lawsuit states that Hayut “defrauded, cheated, conned, falsified, and hurt women, men, and businesses” all while impersonating a member of the Leviev family.
According to NBC News, this lawsuit is only the beginning of a long line of lawsuits. The next step is to sue Leviev and anyone else profiting from the scheme.
