The 31 Craziest Moments From "The Tinder Swindler" That Will Make You Afraid To Swipe Right Ever Again
If you're looking for a new true crime documentary to watch, I highly recommend The Tinder Swindler, which was released on Netflix on Feb. 2.
The documentary follows the story of three women who were defrauded by Simon Leviev, a 31-year-old international fraudster who has been conning people out of money since his late teens.
Although Simon, whose given name is Shimon Hayut, has assumed numerous false identities over the years, the documentary traces his fraudulent acts committed while falsely claiming that he is the son of Lev Leviev, a billionaire and founder of diamond manufacturing company, LLD Diamonds.
Simon swindled money in partnership with his bodyguard, Peter. He also worked closely with a business partner, Avishay.
The three women interviewed in the documentary, Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjoholm, and Ayleen Charlotte, all met Simon on Tinder. Pernilla struck up a friendship with Simon, while Simon dated Cecilie and Ayleen simultaneously without either woman knowing about the other.
From 2017 to 2019, Simon pretended to be the wealthy CEO of LLD Diamonds and convinced the women that he had dangerous enemies against him in the diamond industry. He manipulated them into taking out their life savings or using loans to fund his spending while falsely promising to pay them back in full.
There are many insane moments throughout the documentary detailing how the story unfolded, and these 31 are some of the wildest ones.
1.When Simon presented himself to Cecilie as the son of Lev Leviev.
Lev is nicknamed "The King of Diamonds," and Simon called himself "The Prince of Diamonds." In reality, Simon has no connection to LLD Diamonds or the Leviev family.
2.When Simon introduced Cecilie to his young daughter, her mother, and his lifestyle very soon after meeting on Tinder.
During their first in-person meeting, Simon shared with Cecilie that he's rarely in one place for very long, then invited her to travel to Bulgaria with him by private jet to get to know her better. "It felt like stepping into a movie," she said.
Simon's young daughter and a woman whom he said was the mother of the child were both on the flight with them.
3.When Cecilie noticed marks on Simon's back, which he said he got from being assaulted in prison.
Simon claimed he had a business deal going on in South Africa, during which colleagues turned their backs on him, resulting in him going to jail on false pretenses. He said he was innocent and was mistreated in prison for being Jewish.
4.When Simon revealed some scary info right after his and Cecilie's relationship became official.
After Cecilie said yes to being Simon's girlfriend, he told her that he was working on a $70 million dollar diamond deal, but people in the diamond industry had been threatening him and his security team.
He said they'd received bullets and funeral flowers in the mail as threats, and an apartment of his in Tel Aviv had been broken into. Simon also planned to stay away from London, as he told Cecilie his security team believed he was no longer safe there.
Cecilie said she felt "super scared for [Simon]" and how the situation was stressing him out, and she reassured him that she'd be there for him.
5.When Simon flew Pernilla to Amsterdam quickly after meeting on Tinder while secretly still dating Cecilie.
Soon after meeting on Tinder, Simon asked Pernilla if she'd like to visit him in Amsterdam, where he said he was living at the time. She then gave him her passport information and flew from her home in Stockholm to Amsterdam to see him.
Pernilla didn't have romantic feelings for Simon when they met up in person, but did say she felt an "instant connection" and Simon was "really easy to talk to."
"Even though there wasn't a romantic energy between us, I really enjoyed myself. I actually missed him after just, like, a day or two because we did have a lot of fun," she said. The two started a close friendship following this meeting, and Simon never told Pernilla about his relationship with Cecilie.
6.When Simon asked Cecilie to move in with him, and told her the budget would be $15,000 a month.
After Simon said he wanted to live with Cecilie, she searched luxury apartment listings on her own, sometimes FaceTiming Simon to show him the places she was looking at. She eventually made an offer on one apartment, but they never moved in together.
7.When Simon sent Cecilie photos of himself and Peter in an ambulance covered in blood, claiming it was the work of his enemies.
Simon sent Cecilie images showing himself and Peter with bloody injuries in the middle of the night as a scare tactic. He convinced Cecilie that his enemies were trying to attack her on this occasion, and, had it not been for Peter intervening, she would have been killed.
Simon also sent these same images to both Ayleen and Pernilla at different times as a gateway to convince them to send him money.
8.When Simon asked for Cecilie's credit card account info, then $25,000 in cash.
Simon claimed that, after this alleged attack on him and Peter, his security team was no longer allowing him to use his credit cards for fear that his enemies could track him down by tracing where he was using the cards. He ask Cecilie if he could temporarily use her credit card in the meantime, and she agreed.
"I'm his girlfriend. Of course, [he] would ask me. Like, you trust me and I trust you, so of course we're gonna help each other. It wasn't even, like, a question," Cecilie said.
After quickly maxing out her Platinum American Express card, Simon asked Cecilie to get $25,000 in cash for him, which she obtained through applying for a loan and brought to Amsterdam for him.
9.When Simon made Cecilie believe he was in danger because of a security breach, then flew to Stockholm and spent her money at a nightclub.
Simon ended up leaving Cecilie in Amsterdam and flying to Stockholm after staging this security breach with Peter. Once he landed, he went with Pernilla and Peter to a night club, where he payed cash for all of their services at the club. Pernilla left early, and by the time she texted Simon the next morning, he had already flown to Barcelona, Spain.
10.When Simon manipulated Cecilie into lying to American Express so he could continue spending more and more money under her name.
Simon would constantly use Cecilie's American Express card while she lied to the company and acted as though she was the one traveling and spending. During this time, Simon would frequently call her when the card would become blocked because of his escalating spending.
"Simon had already told me this would happen, that it would be something that I would need to do at the start, to call [Amex] and fix this," Cecilie said.
11.When Simon forged documents to convince American Express that Cecilie was making just over $94,000 a month so he could raise her credit limit and spend more.
Simon told Cecilie the money he was withdrawing under her name was funding for his entire work team at LLD Diamonds. To raise her credit limit and spend more, he forged documents using her passport information and fraudulent claims that she was making $94,263 a month.
Since Cecilie was getting anxious over his spending, Simon sent her a receipt from Credit Suisse stating that he was sending her a direct transfer of $250,000 to pay her back for everything he owed. The funds he claimed to have sent her never went through.
12.When Simon told Pernilla he had begun dating a woman named Polina, and the three of them met up for a Mykonos trip while Simon ignored Cecilie.
Pernilla, who was still unaware that Simon and Cecilie were dating, invited Simon to join her in Mykonos after he announced he was newly dating a model named Polina. Simon and Polina traveled to Mykonos to see Pernilla while he continued to use money from Cecilie's account. All the while, Pernilla assumed this was Simon's money. There was no information presented in the documentary to suggest that Polina was aware of the source of his income.
Cecilie invited Simon to her hometown of Oslo, Norway, to meet her family and friends during this time, but he said he couldn't go because his security team wanted him to stay away and be safe from his enemies.
"I felt deeply disappointed, but what's most important is actually to keep him safe," Cecilie said in the doc.
13.When Simon's spending on his summer escapades added up to $250,000 under Cecilie's name.
While on the trip, Simon booked a luxury hotel stay in Mykonos with a private pool that cost $5,000 a night. Within three days, he spent $20,000 on the vacation, which he told Cecilie was going towards business dinners with clients and various expenses for his LLD Diamonds team.
Simon then took Polina and Pernilla to Bonbonniere, a VIP club in Myokonos. Here, he maxed out Cecilie's credit card again and asked her to take out more loans, so she withdrew another $40,000.
At the time, Pernilla thought Simon was "very generous" because he covered the whole bill at Bonbonniere, paying for their table and champagne bottles. Simon and Polina continued to travel to several countries over the summer.
"The things you're doing for me, the things that we're going through together right now, it's for life. This is what is making me to see that you are the one," Simon said in a voice message to Cecilie at the time.
His spending eventually added up to Cecilie taking out $250,000 in loans from around 9 different creditors.
14.When Cecilie confessed what had been going on to American Express employees, and she learned that Simon was a professional fraudster.
After his insane summer spending, Simon gave Cecilie a phony check for $500,000. When the money didn't go through to her account, Simon told her he had already given her the money, so there was nothing more he would do to help her.
Cecilie went to American Express and confessed that she'd lied about her employment and the fact that she was traveling and spending when it was really Simon behind this. After showing American Express personnel Simon's images, they told her he uses several different names and cons people out of money for a living, and none of his story was true.
"The man I loved was never real. He faked everything," Cecilie said. "Everything is a lie, but then you still have this fairy tale that's going on on your phone ... I still wanted him to be true, you know? I don't understand how someone can be so fucking evil. I felt that he knew me."
15.When Simon asked Pernilla for $30,000.
Simon told Pernilla his enemies were after him and he asked her for $30,000. She used savings she had put away for a new apartment and transferred Simon the money while on the phone with him.
"What's more important, my friend's security situation or me buying an apartment?" Pernilla said.
16.When Cecilie found an old news article and uncovered more about about Simon's past.
After getting Simon's birth name, Shimon Hayut, from American Express, Cecilie Googled him. She then found an article from 2015 about how he swindled three Finnish women out of money. He served time in prison for this but continued conning people out of money even more rampantly after his release.
17.When Cecilie reached out to the Norwegian news outlet, VG, and their journalists analyzed Simon's manipulation tactics.
Cecilie next went to VG, the largest newspaper in Norway, with her story. She sent nearly 400 pages of WhatsApp communication she'd exchanged with Simon to VG journalists Natalie Remøe Hansen, Kristoffer Kumar, and Erlend Ofte Arntsen, who began investigating. After viewing the videos, pictures, audio messages, and texts sent between the two, they were able to see how strategic Simon was at luring Cecilie in.
"The first date was a guideway to lure her to believe that he was really successful. This is an emotional con. He was promising so much: an apartment together, vacations, building a family together," Natalie said. "The first request for money comes after they've been dating for over a month, and he has been using that month to make her fall in love with him, prove that he is really rich and make her afraid of his enemies."
"There's no reason to believe that Simon is not able to pay her back because she has seen how wealthy he is," Kristoffer added. Since Simon was surrounded by people like his bodyguard, Peter, and business partner, Avishay, the VG team wasn't initially sure how far his conning network extended.
18.When Cecilie found out the woman who said she was the mother of Simon's daughter had testified against him three years before Cecilie met Simon.
After VG journalists found the names of the three Finnish women who were conned by Simon, Cecilie Googled all of them to see if she recognized any of the women. She was shocked when one search brought up an image of the woman who said she was the mother of Simon's daughter on Cecilie's first date with Simon.
The woman had told Cecilie that Simon was a great dad to their daughter and made Cecilie feel like he was a trustworthy partner.
"How on the fucking Earth were you a victim? You were standing at the trial back in 2016, putting him to jail knowing that he had lied to you and suddenly, three years later, you're sitting on a private jet with Simon," Cecilie said.
19.When VG journalists learned the extent of Simon's fraudster history after traveling to Israel, his native country.
After traveling to Tel Aviv, Israel, the VG journalists were able to confirm with local authorities that Simon Leviev is the same person as Shimon Hayut, who was named in the 2015 article that Cecilie had found. Authorities said that he changed his name to Simon Leviev in 2017. The journalists also discovered that in 2011, Simon was suspected of stealing a check from his then-employer, and continued using stolen or forged checks following this accusation. Before he was due for a date in court, he fled the country and had been wanted by Israeli authorities since then.
20.When Simon took another $10,000 from Pernilla and sent her a phony receipt for a $100,000 bank transfer.
Simon later asked Pernilla for an additional $10,000 after the initial $30,000 she gave him. On Christmas Eve 2018, Simon sent her a receipt for a bank transfer of $100,000 to pay Pernilla back. When the money didn't arrive, she followed up with Simon about it, and he said he needed to fly in person to the bank to confirm the transfer.
Pernilla paid for numerous flights for Simon, and was in desperate need of money to pay her bills at this point. Simon then said he could give her a watch of his he claimed was worth over $100,000 to repay her.
21.When VG journalists realized that Simon's strategy was using a Ponzi scheme.
Through further research and getting in touch with Pernilla, the VG team realized that Simon was running a Ponzi scheme. After Cecilie gave Simon money, he used it on outings with Pernilla, and once he had received money from Pernilla, he would then use it on someone else who would become another future victim.
Since Simon's name was never on any of the credit cards used to secure the money he conned people out of, Natalie said he has "plausible excuse. He can always say, 'I was just borrowing the money.'"
In addition, Erlend said that, because Simon traveled so often, it was very difficult for local authorities to ever track him down.
22.When journalists traveled to Munich to try and film Simon with Pernilla going undercover to help them, and he realized he was being watched.
Pernilla was planning to meet Simon in Munich when she got in touch with the VG journalists, so they all booked a flight to Munich as well. The journalists' goal was to film Simon, which would prove to police that he would be a possible suspect to track down.
Pernilla, Simon and Avishay ate dinner at a luxury hotel in Munich while Kristoffer and a colleague were across the street in a parking garage, ready to secretly shoot photos of Simon. Simon noticed them taking photos when he stood outside of the hotel, causing him and Avishay to rush Pernilla into a car and flee.
Although Pernilla was very nervous that she'd been found out by Simon, they didn't realize she was aiding the journalists, so she remained safe.
Simon gave Pernilla the watch he promised her during their dinner, and when she took it to a pawn shop, they told her it was fake.
23.When Pernilla confronted Simon and he threatened her while journalists filmed the exchange.
After finding out the watch he gave her was fake, Pernilla decided to confront Simon over the phone while journalists filmed this call. He threatened her when she called him out on his lies.
24.When Simon was still a free man after VG published their article on his fraudulent schemes.
Although many victims reached out to VG to share their stories of being cheated by Simon once the article was published, and VG had discovered he was wanted in at least seven different countries, he remained a free man.
25.When Simon's then-girlfriend, Ayleen, saw the article on Simon while waiting for a flight after visiting him.
Ayleen was at an airport in Prague after visiting Simon when she saw the VG article on Instagram.
She read the article and noticed some similarities between Cecilie's stories of dating Simon and her relationship with him; like he did with Cecilie, Simon met Ayleen on Tinder, and he took both Cecilie and Ayleen to five star hotels on the first date.
The article also showed texts and videos sent from Simon to Cecilie. Ayleen noticed Simon had sent her the same videos, and used very similar text messages while communicating with her. She said she felt shocked that he had not only conned her out of the money, but he'd also been cheating on her the whole time while promising moving in together and starting a family.
"On one small flight, I lost everything," she said.
Ayleen and Simon had been dating for 14 months when she read the article, and she had loaned him $140,000 by this time, which he also told her he needed because enemies were after him.
26.When Ayleen decided to swindle Simon and get some payback.
Even though Simon tried to convince Ayleen that the article was false and his enemies paid people off to publish it, she realized she had been lied to and he was a fraud. She then got in touch with Pernilla and decided to come up with a plan to swindle Simon.
Since his face was all over the news, Simon couldn't get any women to date him from Tinder anymore and was dependent on Ayleen. She convinced him that she still believed him and suggested that he give her his expensive designer wardrobe so she could sell it to get him some money.
Ayleen instead kept this money for herself, and even got an alert for an offer on one of his wardrobe items while being interviewed in the documentary.
27.When Simon's extreme requests were rejected by a plastic surgeon in Prague.
When Ayleen went to visit Simon in Prague to get his wardrobe, he brought her along to a consultation appointment with a plastic surgeon. To ensure that he would no longer be recognized since his face was all over the news, Simon asked the doctor to alter his cheekbones, nose, lips, and possibly his chin.
"The plastic surgeon says, 'I'm sorry, but I'm not going to do this surgery because only criminals want this,'" Ayleen said. "I almost spit out my water because I really wanted to say to this surgeon, 'But he is a criminal.'"
28.When Simon realized Ayleen was done giving him money and the darker side of his personality came out.
Once Simon realized that Ayleen was never going to give him any money from his wardrobe sales, his demeanor changed, and he continuously sent threatening messages to her.
"This is where I saw his several personalities," Ayleen said.
Some voice memos he sent were 20 minutes long, and a few different clips of the messages were played in the doc.
"You have no idea how much I love you. You just need to trust me one last time," Simon said in a memo.
"Don't send me lies! I know how to lie. I can teach you how to lie. I need this money to succeed," he said in another.
He also told Ayleen, "I'm not your enemy. I'm not fighting with you," but later said, "You will get the worst fucking enemy you have ever seen in your life for you and for your fucking family if you will ever play with me! Give it [the money] today."
29.When Simon was powerless without the ability to swindle people out of money and ended up in a hostel, calling himself the "homeless king."
Simon kept messaging Ayleen and asking her for money and favors during this time, telling her that he was on the verge of homelessness. Since he had no income and nowhere else to turn, he told Ayleen he was eating people's leftover food at the mall and staying at $12/night hostels. He also called himself the "homeless king."
30.When Ayleen's quick thinking helped lead to Simon's arrest (which he never found out she was behind, until he presumably watched the documentary).
While they were still in touch, Simon told Ayleen he needed a flight ticket to get out of Prague. She remembered he had mentioned going to Athens not long before this, so she found a flight online to Athens that matched their timeline of communication. She then sent an email warning police that Simon was on the flight, and she also gave the fake identity he was using, David Sharon, which was on a credit card he'd previously sent her.
He was then arrested by Interpol authorities for using a fake passport under this name.
31.When the documentary ended with some crazy updates, including that Simon is now living as a free man in Israel although it's estimated he's cheated people out of $10 million worldwide.
Although he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the crimes he committed in Israel, Simon only served five months before being released. Following this, he started a website offering a workshop for business advice for a fee of $311 per person, which now appears to be down.
Polina broke up with Simon when she discovered he was cheating on her, and he was dating an Israeli model, Kate Konlin, when the documentary was filmed, but they're now just friends.
After being released from prison, Simon again joined Tinder, but is now banned from the app, they said in a statement to Variety. He's also been banned from other dating apps like Hinge, PlentyofFish, and OkCupid.
Simon's business partner, Avishay, and his bodyguard, Peter, were never charged with any crimes.
The producers of the documentary asked Simon to be a part of it, and he responded with a voice memo.
"I will proceed with a 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," Simon said.
Cecilie, Pernilla, and Ayleen, meanwhile, are still currently paying off debts. They've started a GoFundMe page to help them in recovering from their financial burdens.
Simon has never faced any charges related to defrauding them. The total amount that he's estimated to have conned people out of around the world is $10 million.
