The documentary The Tinder Swindler quickly gained popularity after being released on Netflix Feb. 2. Currently, the documentary remains on Netflix’s top 10 most-watched list for many countries, including the United States. Part of what has made this documentary so captivating is the near-unbelievable story it covers. Born Shimon Hayut, Simon Leviev, the Tinder Swindler, easily swooned numerous women on Tinder with his charming personality, love for traveling and extravagant lifestyle. Simon then scammed these women from Tinder out of millions of dollars, becoming the most extreme form of a catfish.
Despite the recent release of The Tinder Swindler documentary, Leviev is attempting to use this heightened attention to infiltrate Hollywood. According to the New York Post, Leviev has recently signed with Hollywood talent agent and manager Gina Rodriguez who is well known for managing popular reality television stars. Rodriguez told ET Online that she was intrigued by Leviev’s story and viewed him as “the world’s greatest salesman.”
Simon Leviev, 31, told women he was the son of Lev Avnerovich Leviev, a businessman from Israel who is the founder of LLD Diamonds. Lev Avnerovich, who has a net worth of $1 billion, is known as the “King of Diamonds,” so Simon marketed himself as the “Prince of Diamonds” to women. He impressed these women with his lavish lifestyle and then made up a series of stories in order to persuade these women to give him money. Leviev’s victims took out loans, opened credit cards tied to them but under Leviev’s name and were asked to sell their possessions. According to People, some of the women he has scammed are still struggling in debt. Meanwhile, Leviev has been released from jail after spending five months incarcerated, with an original sentence of 15 months.
According to the same New York Post story, producers of the documentary believe that Leviev’s scams could amount to tens of millions of dollars. Despite being a convicted con man and scammer banned from all major dating apps, Leviev hopes to start his own dating show with him as the main love interest, where “women compete for his love.” According to ET Online, Leviev is also considering starting a podcast and possibly writing a book. Additionally, it has been noted that Leviev is now on the app Cameo, where people can pay $200 for a personalized video from him. Many are angered that Leviev is trying to capitalize on his scams and victimization of women because of the notoriety the documentary has presented.
The Tinder Swindler documentary has stirred up discourse concerning the safety of dating apps. It has influenced Tinder to release a set of educational guidelines to help protect others from falling victim to dating app scammers such as Leviev. This documentary has shed light on how simple it can be to get taken advantage of over the internet. Although Leviev is now banned from Tinder, Leviev still had an active Tinder account prior to the documentary’s release. Tinder has since confirmed that there are no accounts or profiles remaining connected to Leviev.
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