The Tinder Swindler Fiasco

If you haven’t watched the new documentary Tinder Swindler you’re probably wondering what everyone is going on about. Because everyone really is talking about it. SPOILER ALERTS WARNING!!!

The Tinder Swindler, Simon Leviev

Meet Simon, Simon managed to swindle a whopping amount of over R155 322 885,86. His victims first come across his profile on Tinder, which is set up to look like this clean-cut man, who lives a high-end, luxurious lifestyle, seems to be fun, is good-looking, and insanely well off! Obviously, this means that many, many women will be swiping right on this dreamy catch.

THE TINDER SWINDLER. Documentary subject PERNILLA SJÖHOLM in THE TINDER SWINDLER. Courtesy of Netflix.
Cecilie Fjellhoy
Ayleen Charlotte

Once you’ve watched this documentary you might want to consider doing research on how to protect yourself online. Because what Simon Hayut a.k.a Simon Leviev managed to get away with was beyond belief!

Simon managed to convince many women, that he was in a magical whirlwind relationship with each of them. He managed to build a convincing digital storyline that showed him to have an affluent lifestyle, which was used to ‘verify’ his claims of being the son of a billionaire in the diamond business. His Instagram & Tinder account was populated with pictures of travel, gorgeous scenes around the world, enjoying only the best of the best. Definitely not anything the regular Joe would afford. In the end, Simon had swindled one woman to swindle the next, managing to manipulate his targets to ‘borrow’ him huge sums of money, but at their expense (such as taking out credit cards, and maxing them out), in Pernilla’s case, he used her emotional connection to him to part from her life-savings that was meant to set her up for her new home.

Not surprisingly Tinder has blocked Simon from the app. But don’t feel too sorry for him, as the film recounts, Leviev only served five months of his 15-month prison sentence. His social media accounts showed him shopping up a storm!

Dating Safety Tips

Never Send Money or Share Financial Information

Protect Your Personal Information

Be Wary of Long Distance and Overseas Relationships

Report All Suspicious and Offensive Behavior

You know when someone’s crossed the line and when they do, we want to know about it. Block and report anyone that violates our terms. Here are some examples of violations:

  • Requests for money or donations
  • Underage users
  • Harassment, threats, and offensive messages
  • Inappropriate or harmful behavior during or after meeting in person
  • Fraudulent profiles
  • Spam or solicitation including links to commercial websites or attempts to sell products or services

Comments

One response to “The Tinder Swindler Fiasco”

  1. I agree with the sentiment that if it appears to be too good to be true its an automatic red flag. Trust your common sense detectors and lead with skepticism first when it comes to dating online. Good article !

    Liked by 1 person

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