The Tinder Swindler, Simon Leviev, is the Israeli Shimon Yehuda Hayut, born in 1990, who between 2017 and 2019 met women on Tinder while posing as the heir of a diamond tycoon and, according to his victims, persuaded them to take out loans in their own names that paid for the luxury he used to win over the next ones. He was exposed in 2019 by the Norwegian newspaper VG, and Netflix told the story in 2022. As of this publication he has never been tried for those acts: his known convictions are in Finland (2015) and in Israel (2019, over an old check case). He denies taking money from anyone.
In 30 seconds
- Hayut legally changed his name to Simon Leviev, the surname of diamond tycoon Lev Leviev, to whom he is not related.
- According to the victims and VG's investigation, the money one woman lent him paid for the flights, hotels and jets he used to win over another.
- He was arrested in Greece in 2019 over a fake passport; in Israel he accepted 15 months over a 2011 check case and was out after five.
- The Netflix documentary racked up 166 million hours viewed in 28 days. He calls it a made-up movie.
Timeline
Shimon Yehuda Hayut is born in Bnei Brak (Israel), the son of a rabbi.
Israel charges him with theft and check forgery; he flees the country before trial.
A Helsinki court convicts him of aggravated fraud against three women.
He meets Cecilie Fjellhøy on Tinder in London and invites her onto his jet.
Norwegian newspaper VG publishes its investigation, The Tinder Swindler.
He is arrested in Greece for traveling on a fake passport and extradited to Israel.
In Israel he accepts 15 months in prison over the check case; he is out after five.
Netflix releases the documentary The Tinder Swindler.
He is arrested in Batumi (Georgia) on a German warrant; he is freed two months later.
The family of tycoon Lev Leviev drops its Tel Aviv lawsuit over his use of the surname.
Who is Simon Leviev? From Bnei Brak to the "Prince of Diamonds"
Shimon Yehuda Hayut was born in 1990 in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city near Tel Aviv, the son of a rabbi. According to VG's investigation, as a teenager, while living in Brooklyn with family acquaintances, he used the homeowner's credit card to pay for first-class flights, hotels and luxury shopping.
In 2011 Israeli prosecutors charged him with theft, forgery and fraud over checks stolen from a family he worked for as a babysitter, according to the indictment. He did not show up for trial and left the country on false documents. In Finland he repeated a pattern that would later become famous: he met a woman, moved into her life, and the money he owed her was "always on its way." In 2015 a Helsinki court convicted him of aggravated fraud against three women. Deported to Israel, he disappeared again.
When he resurfaced, his legal name was Simon Leviev. He maintains that he has the right to call himself whatever he likes and that he never claimed to be anyone's son. But, according to witnesses quoted by the press, he showed documents and photos that led people to believe exactly that.
How it was set up: a jet, a coffee and a message every morning
In January 2018 Cecilie Fjellhøy, a 29-year-old Norwegian studying in London, matched on Tinder with a man of sunglasses, jets and hotels. The first date was coffee at the Four Seasons. That same afternoon, by her account, he invited her to fly to Sofia on his private plane, with a bodyguard, a business partner and an assistant on board. Having so many people around made her feel safe.
Then came the good-morning messages, every single morning, and plans to rent an apartment together in London. He did not shower her with handbags: he gave her constancy. It is the mechanism of every romance scam: first a relationship is built, then the emergency appears.
A few weeks in, according to the messages VG published, Leviev said his "enemies" were threatening him and tracking his cards. He sent her a photo of his bloodied bodyguard and asked her for money. Cecilie opened credit cards and took out loans in her name, at several banks. He sent her a transfer receipt to pay it all back; it was fake. She estimates she lost about $250,000.
How did the Tinder Swindler's scam work? A pyramid disguised as romance
When VG went through Cecilie's statements, it found something she had not bought: plane tickets for other women. One was the Swede Pernilla Sjöholm, who met him on Tinder in 2018 and with whom he had a friendship of trips around Europe. Months later, he asked her for a loan of more than 400,000 Swedish kronor. Another was the Dutch woman Ayleen Charlotte, his partner for more than a year, who took out loans and lost about $140,000, according to her testimony.
The structure is that of a Ponzi scheme brought to a date: the new victim's money pays for the luxury that wins over the next one. That is why it cannot stop: if there is no next one, there is no jet. The press speaks of about $10 million in total, but it is an estimate without court documentation; the "$100 million" that circulates online has no serious source.
How he was exposed: VG, the fake watch and the loyal girlfriend
Cecilie reported him in Norway and in the United Kingdom, and went to a newspaper. VG spent months on his trail. Pernilla agreed to see him again and, when he gave her a watch as a guarantee that he would repay her, a Stockholm watchmaker confirmed it was fake. The story was published in February 2019.
Ayleen read it and recognized herself in every line. She did not break up with him: she stayed by his side and gave the police the name on his fake passport. In late June 2019 he was arrested in Greece. Extradited to Israel, in December 2019 he accepted a plea deal in the old check case: 15 months in prison. He was released in May 2020, after five months. There were no charges over what Cecilie, Pernilla and Ayleen described. The documentary's director, Felicity Morris, explained it this way: to the authorities these were small crimes, each in a different country. Nobody was adding them up.
Where is the Tinder Swindler now? Netflix, Georgia and a dating app
On February 2, 2022, Netflix released The Tinder Swindler, which racked up 166 million hours viewed in 28 days. Tinder banned him. He opened an account on Cameo, the celebrity video platform, and said on television that he was just a single guy who wanted to meet girls and that the documentary was a made-up movie. On Israeli television he claimed he had never taken a cent from them.
The debts were still in the women's names. The three of them started a fundraiser to pay them off; Cecilie ended up declaring bankruptcy in the United Kingdom. And on top of losing the money, they endured mockery on social media. That shame, the shame of having trusted, is one of the reasons many romance scam victims never report it.
In September 2025 he was arrested at Batumi airport, in Georgia, on an Interpol Red Notice requested by Germany; according to his lawyer, over a complaint from a woman in Berlin. Two months later he was released without conditions. In July 2026, according to The Jerusalem Post, the family of tycoon Lev Leviev dropped the lawsuit it had filed in Tel Aviv over his use of their surname, after the court raised doubts about jurisdiction; he undertook not to present himself as a member of that family. In October 2026 he announced a dating app that, he says, will be "scam-proof."
Law of Deception No. 9: how to recognize the same trap today
The ninth of The Laws of Deception says: the wealth they show you is being paid for by the previous victim. The jet, the hotel and the bodyguard were not proof of a fortune: they were the bait, paid for with another woman's money. It ran on the trust of a relationship and was protected by the victims' shame.
The pattern is not limited to one man: in Spain, in 2025, the Guardia Civil broke up a romance scam ring with some seventy victims and €1.5 million stolen. The warning signs repeat:
- Luxury from day one. Photos of jets, cars and hotels, and a life that looks too perfect for a dating app.
- Meetings that keep getting postponed. Constant travel, urgent "business," security reasons for not meeting or not leaving a trace.
- A sudden crisis. Threats, an accident, a frozen account: always something only your money can fix.
- Loans in your name. Nobody who loves you asks you to go into debt for them. If the money comes from your credit, the debt will be yours.
- Receipts you cannot verify. A screenshot of a transfer is not a transfer.
What to do in the US and the UK. Before sending money, talk to someone you trust outside the relationship. If you have already sent it, contact your bank immediately to try to stop the payment. In the United States, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), and report the profile to the dating app. In the United Kingdom, report it to Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud) and keep the messages and receipts. If someone offers to recover your money for a fee, be wary: it is a second scam. You will find the steps in our guides on what to do if you get scammed and how to spot a scam.
Watch the full episode
The story Netflix did not tell, with the accounts of who paid for each trip and what happened to him up to 2026, is in episode 9 of MATERIUM.
The full episodeThe Tinder Swindler: The Story Netflix Didn't Tell You
Premieres on YouTube on 13 November
Frequently asked questions
Is the Tinder Swindler real?
Yes. His name is Shimon Yehuda Hayut, he was born in Israel in 1990 and he legally changed his name to Simon Leviev. His story was investigated in 2019 by the Norwegian newspaper VG and told in 2022 by the Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler.
Where is the Tinder Swindler now?
As of this publication he is free. In September 2025 he was arrested in Georgia on a German warrant, but was released two months later, and in July 2026 the Leviev family's lawsuit against him in Tel Aviv was dropped. In October 2026 he launched a dating app.
Was Simon Leviev convicted of scamming the women in the documentary?
No. His known convictions are in Finland, in 2015, for defrauding three women, and in Israel, in 2019, over a 2011 check case. He has never been tried for what Cecilie, Pernilla and Ayleen describe in the documentary. He denies taking money from them.
How much money did the Tinder Swindler's victims lose?
Cecilie Fjellhøy said she lost about $250,000 in loans, Ayleen Charlotte about $140,000 and Pernilla Sjöholm more than 400,000 Swedish kronor. The overall figure of about $10 million is a press estimate.
Sources
- VG, 'The Tinder Swindler' (original investigation, 2019)
- The Guardian, on the Netflix documentary (2022)
- Vanity Fair, 'The Tinder Swindler' and Shimon Hayut (2022)
- Esquire, the true story and where he is now
- OC Media, arrest in Batumi (2025)
- Der Tagesspiegel, release from custody in Georgia (2025, in German)
- The Jerusalem Post, end of the Leviev family's lawsuit (2026)
- Guardia Civil (Spain), operation against a romance scam ring (2025)
