How The Tinder Swindler Scammed His Victims Out Of Millions

The Tinder Swindler was released on Netflix in February 2022 and became an instant sensation. The documentary follows the accounts of three women who have been bamboozled by a man who they met through the dating app, Tinder.

Simon Leiviev (or Shimon Hayut, his original name) is the so-called “Tinder Swindler” and is the central figure in the Netflix film of the same name. Leviev, 31, allegedly presented himself as the son of an Israeli multi-millionaire diamond magnate, Lev Leviev, to women he met off of Tinder.

Leviev had established a pattern, and it worked very well for him—until it didn’t. He would first match with a woman on Tinder and take her on a showy and costly first date such as a trip on a private jet.

At some point he would confide in the women that he had a fear of some “enemies” that were apparently at his heels. Sometime after that, he would send his victims a photograph of his bodyguard with a bloody head wound which was allegedly done by the group of his enemies.

Simon Leiviev was a master manipulator with a high-functioning and well-oiled machine of a con. He would ensnare many women in his web of deception at a time, jumping from one woman (and country) to the next as each victim cluelessly footed his high-priced bills.

Norweigan born Cecilie Fjellhøy was completely smitten upon meeting the now infamous Leviev. The pair linked through the Tinder dating app. On their first date, Leviev his date on a private jet from London to Bulgaria for just one night.

Pernilla Sjöholm is a Swedish native residing in Stockholm. According to Sjöholm, she was never romantically linked to Leviev, instead the two became close friends after their first Tinder date. The two would go on various vacations and all the while Leviev would never “let” her pay.

Ayleen Charlotte met Leviev the same way as the prior women, through the Tinder dating app. She became privy to her boyfriend’s true nature via an article that was circulating online. She had been swindled out of around $140,000 by the time she figured out who her boyfriend is.

According to The Times of Israel Leviev managed to con an estimated $10 million from his targets. To avoid repayment, he would alternate between cajoling, threats, and an overall pattern of stalling.

Leviev was in it for the long con with each woman. Each woman had a different timeline for when Leviev would begin to claim that his life was in danger and begin requesting money. For Schrøder, the requests for cash started coming in at 12 months after a slow build of supposed danger.

Leviev’s downward spiral began when Cecilie Fjellhøy went to her creditors in a bid of desperation at her impending debt. Fjellhoy had an in-person meeting with the creditors and explained her situation, even showing them a photo of Leviev. The creditors immediately recognized him and alerted her that the man was a con artist and that she was not the only one he had fooled.

Journalist sleuthing led to the discovery that Leviev had already been convicted in Finland for a similar scheme under the name Shimon Hayut and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Journalists had reached out to Sjöholm and alerted her to his true intentions with her and her bank account. After the story was published through VG in 2019, it went viral.

Because the Leviev’s two victims had decided to unite against him, Ayleen Charlotte was able to become privy to the man she believed to be a doting boyfriend. Charlotte discovered an article put together by his two former victims on Instagram. She confronted Leviev, who predictably denies any wrongdoing.

By maintaining the facade, she was able to meet up with him one last time. Leviev was panicked and desperate, as his cash flow had been cut off. Charlotte offered to help sell his designer clothes for him. He agreed and handed over piles of expensive clothing.

Charlotte also had an enormous hand in the detainment of Leviev. Because she could see that he had left one of her messages on WhatsApp unread for an extended period (which was unusual for him) she deduced that he was on a plane.

When Leviev’s plane lands in Greece, he is arrested. He has a fake passport and a new name, clearly ready to begin his next big scam.

Leviev currently lives as a free man in Israel (this is based on Instagram content that he posted to his stories). Prior to the release of the Netflix documentary, his Instagram account was active with 100,000 followers and was set to private. He then deactivated it once the film came out.

Leviev’s new girlfriend has modeled for Vogue and L’Officiel Paris. She is wealthy and successful, much like the women Leviev has pursued as marks in the past. According to Konlin, the Tinder Swindler has not swindled any cash from her.

Since the widespread release of the Netflix documentary, Simon Leviev has been permanently banned from sits such as Tinder (his main hunting ground), Match.com, and OKCupid.

Simon Leviev decided to take a hiatus away from Instagram, perhaps a wise choice following the intense and widespread interest in his travels, movement, and day to day activities since the premiere of the Netflix documentary.

Ever the romantic, the Tinder Swindler rekindled his romance with Instagram’s social network. He decided to make his account public for all to see his lavish lifestyle. He even went ahead and shared a new post with him sitting in a car with the caption, “The past few days was not easy for me . Thank you all for your love and support. I will keep fighting as I always did . ( ככל שיענו אותו כן ירבה וכן יפרוץ )”

A woman named Valeria Calpanchay claims to have gone on a date with the infamous Tinder Swindler. According to Calpanchay, she and him went on a date while she was in Munich, Germany.

Her first red flag? “My first thought was ‘millionaires are not flashing their money on Tinder. because they don’t need to’. So, I was curious to see what he was actually like.” Another red flag that revealed some deep character flaws was when he showed her intimate photos sent to him by other women.

Simon “Leviev” A.K.A Shimon Hayut enjoyed and profited off pretending to be the trustee and son of Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. Somehow, he even managed to make his false name and photo something that his marks could Google and find! He really had the entire scheme well-oiled and tuned.

LLD Diamonds are a leading global industrialist and marketer in the polished diamond industry. The company was founded in 1996 by Lev Leviev. It is the world’s largest privately held diamond manufacturer and has its own diamond mines around the world.

Zevulun Leviev, the son of the diamond tycoon Lev Leviev and owner of LLD Diamonds, is among six others suspected in a high-end smuggling operation. The operation said to have brought about 300 million shekels ($80 million) worth of illegal diamonds illegally through Israel. Apparently, this has been going on since 2010.

LLD Diamonds had some PR to attend to once the story of Shimon Hayut A.K.A Simon Leviev broke, making LLD Diamonds a household name overnight.

The Tinder Swindler’s father is named Yohanan Hayut. He works as the chief rabbi for El AI Airlines and has been linked to allegations regarding fraud and taking money from people under false pretenses.

After the three women, Cecilie, Pernilla, and Ayleen were defrauded out of a collective thousands upon thousands of dollars, they blew the story through the roof and sensationalized their story. Spreading the word proved more beneficial than just exposing their ill-fated love.

Simon Leviev is thought to have swindled an estimated $10 million over the years from various unsuspecting women. Since the documentary has been released, Fjellhøy and Sjoholm say they have been contacted by numerous women who say they were defrauded by Leviev.

While French Montana doesn’t say where or how he met with Simon Leviev, he did share a photo on Instagram (twice). In his first post Montana said, “I can’t believe I met the swindler with a crying laughing emoji.

The Tinder Swindler even caught the attention of famous rapper Cardi B who poked fun at Leviev’s con strategy. Taking to Twitter Cardi B wrote “My enemies are after me. Please send me 100K,” alongside two sad face emojis

The Netflix documentary original amassed an estimated total of $10 million according to The Times of Israel. The documentary also had 45.8 million views worldwide within the first week of February.

According to Variety, Netflix is actively in talks with the producers of The Tinder Swindler about turning their riveting project into a drama series (yes please).

Apparently, Leviev is going to ride his newfound infamy to the bank (or at least try to). Can’t say we are surprised. TMZ reported that Leviev wants to write a book, host a dating podcast, and be the central figure on a dating show.

Leviev has already signed with a talent agent named Gina Rodriguez of Gitoni Inc. On Rodriguez’s Instagram she claims to have represented Danielle Bregoli A.K.A “Bhad Bhabie,” Soulja Boy, as well as Honey Boo-Boo.

Sadly, this kind of swindling is not as uncommon as we would like to hope. As hard as it was to watch the trio of women onscreen decry Simon Leviev, we all thought that wouldn’t happen to me.

According to the FBI, Americans lost upwards $1 billion in 2021 alone to so-called “romance scams.” Apparently, the majority of the victims who were cheated and robbed out of their money were women older than 40 years old, widowed women, elderly, or divorced, or disabled.