Simon Leviev from ‘Tinder Swindler’ Netflix documentary banned from dating apps
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2 min read . Updated: 08 Feb 2022, 07:05 PM IST - Documentary alleges he defrauded women he met on Tinder
Tinder said it has banned Simon Leviev, the subject of Netflix Inc.’s documentary “The Tinder Swindler," which alleges that he defrauded women he met on the dating app.
“We have conducted internal investigations and can confirm Simon Leviev is no longer active on Tinder under any of his known aliases," a Tinder spokeswoman said.
Besides Tinder, the spokeswoman said he is also blocked from using the dating sites and apps owned by parent company Match Group Inc., which include Match.com, Plenty of Fish, Hinge and OkCupid.
The documentary said when it was released Feb. 2 that Mr. Leviev was back on Tinder. A spokeswoman for the dating app said that Mr. Leviev was banned from Tinder in 2019, but unsuccessfully tried to create an account in 2021.
Netflix declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal couldn’t independently reach Mr. Leviev. His Instagram account, which was featured in the documentary, was no longer available on Monday.
When asked to appear in the documentary, the filmmakers received a voice message, which they included in the documentary: “I will proceed with the lawsuit against you for defamation and lies and, you know, that everything is based, basically, on a lie. And that’s it, this is how it’s gonna be."
“The Tinder Swindler," produced by London-based production company Raw, focuses on the stories of three women: Ayleen Charlotte, Cecilie Fjellhoy and Pernilla Sjöholm, who said they contacted police about Mr. Leviev. All had separate but similar incidents with Mr. Leviev in 2018 and 2019, according to the documentary.
They allege in the documentary that after matching with Mr. Leviev on the app, he told them he was the son of a billionaire and then took them on high-end dates, which included private jet rides or meals at luxury hotels around Europe.
After getting to know them, the women allege in the documentary that Mr. Leviev would message them saying he was in trouble. They would send him money to help him, but the women say in the documentary that he didn’t pay them back.
The documentary alleges that Mr. Leviev’s given name was Shimon Hayut and that he had also used other names and identities. The film shows him being arrested in Athens in 2019 for using a fake passport.
A day before the documentary was released, Tinder published a fact sheet on how to spot scammers and included tips, like never sending money to a person met online.
“Romance scammers prey on individuals who are already making themselves vulnerable in looking for love and can be hard to spot," said the fact sheet, which didn’t mention the documentary or Mr. Leviev.
Ms. Sjöholm said she was happy and grateful to hear that he was taken off Tinder.
“These fraudsters and scammers are a serious threat," Ms. Sjöholm said in an email, adding that she was “happy to have been a part of shedding light on this issue."
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This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text
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