It seems as though every single television fan from across the globe right now is talking about one thing... the Netflix phenomenon that is The Tinder Swindler.
The gripping true crime film, which rapidly became the first ever documentary to top the platform's weekly film chart following its release earlier this month, centres on the crimes of Israeli-born conman Shimon Hayut, who whilst posing as a billionaire diamond dealer's son, seduced women from across Europe into joining his 'lavish lifestyle', all the while exploiting them into paying for it themselves.
If you simply haven't got the time to catch up with the jaw-dropping one-off doc, here's everything you need to know about one of the most shocking fraudster cases of the modern age. Be warned Tinder users of the UK, this might put you off dating altogether...
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Norwegian-born London-based Cecilie Fjellhoy was swiping through the app one night when she came across the profile of a handsome, wealthy-looking Israeli man named Simon Leviev. Seeing that, like herself, many of his interests included travelling, fine food and extravagant trips, she swiped right. The pair communicated across the dating app until he proposed they meet for a coffee in the lobby of the expensive London hotel he was staying at.
As one sensibly would, Cecilie googled his name, only to discover that he was the son of Russian-Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev and the CEO of LLD Diamonds. The pair immediately hit it off and Cecilie truly believed she had found her Prince Charming, especially when at the end of their date he proposed she fly with him and his bodyguards aboard a private jet on a business trip to Bulgaria straight away. Feeling impulsive, she packed a bag and embarked on the flight.
Sipping on champagne, she noticed another woman sitting several rows behind her on the plane with a young child on her lap. Simon told her that the woman was his ex-girlfriend and that the child was his daughter. Despite initially feeling confused about their relationship, whilst travelling in a taxi through the Bulgarian capital, the woman assured Cecilie that her relationship with Simon was wholly amicable and that he still continued to support her and their daughter. Feeling slightly more assured and believing she may have just ventured into a fairy-tale romance, Cecilie fell head over heels for Simon.
As Simon's busy business life meant that he was constantly travelling across the world, the first few months of their relationship was mainly conducted through messaging. He would send Cecilie flowers and gifts to London whilst he posted videos of high-class business meetings on private jets and in exclusive beach clubs across his various social media platforms. She believed she had won the lottery when the 'Prince of Diamonds' then asked her to be his girlfriend.
Things began to take a strange turn for Cecilie in the comings months however, when Simon disclosed that he was being targeted by his "enemies", even sending a video of him and his bodyguard in the back of an ambulance after being attacked with a knife on the street. He told her that he was no longer safe and that because of a 'breach of security', the bank was forced to put a stop on his various credit cards. Simon then asked his girlfriend if she would be willing to link her American Express bank account to his so that he might use it in the meantime. He constantly maxed out her cards and requested that she meet him to bring cash.
Believing her assistance was imperative to her boyfriend's well-being and security, Cecilie agreed to all of Simon's requests. She took out loans from over three different banks in order to help him. She loaned him a total of $250,000. Whilst 'in hiding' due to the security breach, he would write out cheques to pay her back, however these consistently bounced back when Cecilie tried to cash them. She began to feel scared, but Simon always reassured her that everything would be fixed soon.
Around the same time, Swedish socialite Pernilla Sjoholm was swiping her way through the Tinder dating profiles of some of Stockholm's most eligible bachelors. After some time, she came across an account which immediately grabbed her attention. An extremely attractive man, donning the most expensive suits and travelling across some of the world's most exclusive locations lit up her screen. His name, Simon Leviev. The pair matched and began talking until Simon invited Pernilla to fly to Amsterdam for a date. The pair went for an expensive lunch at a high-end hotel and toured the city, comparing interests.
Despite failing to feel a romantic connection with Simon, Pernilla was blown away by how similar they were and thoroughly enjoyed his company. They decided to remain friends, and kept up regular contact in the months that followed their date. They would go out for dinner, to bars and even on holiday together. They travelled across Europe on a roadtrip - Rome, Vienna, Mykonos. All the while, Cecilie sat at home, growing evermore concerned about her 'boyfriend's' constant requests for money.
Now being hounded by banks for repayment, Cecilie contacted American Express, who visited her at her London home to discuss the situation. She told the banking agents everything - the credit cards, the bank loans, the dodgy cheques - until one of them asked to see a photograph of Simon. The two agents turned to eachother and said, 'That's him'.
They asked Cecilie which name her boyfriend had been using before telling her that 'Simon Leviev' is one of the many aliases that he is known by. The agents advised her to google search the name Shimon Hayut, where she discovered that several years prior, an individual by that name had conned three Finnish girls out of thousands of pounds by pretending to be their boyfriends.
To Cecilie's utter shock, she then scrolled down to the photographs of these woman, only to recognise one of them as the woman on board the plane to Bulgaria with a child on her knee. Confused and heartbroken, she blocked Simon.
Realising that he would not be able to ask Cecilie for any more money, Simon Leviev then turned to his 'good friend' Pernilla for help. He sent her a video - the same video that he had sent to Cecilie just months before - of him and his bodyguard being tended to by paramedics in the back of an ambulance after being attacked. Pretending to be concerned for his safety, he asked Pernilla if he might borrow a sum of money from her, to which she agreed. She loaned him $30,000, which she had saved to buy an apartment.
After being blocked by Cecilie, Simon soon began sending threatening messages to her family, knowing their address and phone number. With no help from the Norwegian police, Cecilie reached out to the country's biggest newspaper, VG, who instantly offered to help. She gave the journalists access to their messages, bank statements, pictures and names of any associates he had ever mentioned. She also highlighted the prior case with the Finnish woman, whom the journalists reached out to, to no avail.
Tasked with proving that Simon Leviev and Shimon Hayut were in fact the same person, the newspaper team travelled to his alleged hometown of Tel Aviv, Israel, where they incidentally crossed paths with his mother, who told them that despite not having had contact with her son, Shimon, since he was 18, he had changed his name to Simon Leviev after being caught up in the criminal world during his teenage years. He had been wanted by the Israeli authorities since 2011 for forging several cheques and then fleeing the country before being tried.
The journalists were then handed the task of uncovering the identities of those who had recently been travelling with Simon, in order to get close to him themselves.
After going through details of numerous flights embarked on by his 'team', they came across Pernilla's name and reached out to her. In disbelief of what she was being told about her dear friend, she confronted Simon. He assured her that what she had been told was fake and that it was in fact his 'enemies' trying to get to him, however she met with the journalism team who showed her proof of everything they had discovered.
Pernilla met with Simon undercover, with camera teams following their every move, until he spotted one of the journalists and quickly departed. He then knew that he would be unable to rely on Pernilla any longer.
Pernilla and Cecilie then joined forces with the journalism team at VG to get Simon's face out there in the public eye. They recorded their story of being scammed by him in order to warn future victims, appearing on guest/discussion panels around the world. The pair hoped that the police would then feel a pressure from the media to act upon Simon's crimes. Many other victims from across the globe also began to speak out about their experiences with the conman.
Simon however, still on the run, was already one step ahead of his former girlfriend and pal. In the meantime, he'd struck up a romantic relationship with Dutch fashion worker Ayleen Charlotte, who he'd seduced on Tinder.
Believing her boyfriend of 14 months to be a low-key, globe-trotting diamond company CEO, she was horrified when a number of weeks into their courtship, she came across a picture of Simon on social media with the caption, 'The Tinder Swindler'.
She compared the initial stages of her relationship with him to that of Cecilie and Pernilla. He had sent the same videos to all three woman, telling them how much he loved them. It was too late to escape however, as Ayleen had already loaned her partner $140,000. She confronted Simon about her online discovery, however he assured her that Pernilla and Cecilie had been hired by his 'enemies' to take him down with this fake news story.
Knowing he was lying, she called the police who told her that they weren't currently building a case against Simon. Being afraid of scaring him into fleeing, Ayleen went along with their relationship whilst secretly communicating with Pernilla and Cecilie about catching him.
She also embarked on a secret mission of her own, however - to get all of her money back. With Simon unable to meet women on Tinder anymore due to his public image, he was running low on money and therefore turned to his 'girlfriend' Ayleen.
She cleverly suggested therefore, that because she is in the fashion industry, that she hand him his most expensive clothes and accessories in order to generate some money so that she might flog them and give him the money. This she does before pocketing the money herself. Simon constantly hounded her into sending her the money from the garments.
He then began to send photos of himself eating left over food in a food court and sleeping in a hostel before hinting to Alyeen that he was boarding a flight from the Czech Republic to Greece to, in his own words, "fix this mess".
Her last message to Simon was sent at 2:40pm, however she quickly realised that he hadn't been online for 10 minutes prior, the exact time that a flight was departing from Prague to Athens. Ayleen then informed the police that he would be travelling on this flight but under a different name. There, he was picked up by Interpol on a fake passport.
Simon Leviev was sentenced to 15 months for the crimes he committed in Israel. He was released after five months. Since his release, he has launched a website offering business advice for a fixed price. His bodyguard and 'business associates' have never been charged with any illegal activity surrounding Simon.
He has no connection to the Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev or the Leviev family. There is also no evidence that any formal charges have been brought against LLD Diamonds for the Leviev family for diamond smuggling.
Simon Leviev currently lives in Israel as a free man and no longer appears to have financial problems. He was never charged with defrauding Cecelie, Pernilla and Ayleen, who are still paying off their debts. It is estimated that he has swindled $10 million from victims around the world.
The Finnish mother of Simon's child from the plane denies any wrongdoing.
Since his release from jail, Simon has been back on Tinder. He was asked to take part in the documentary, but told the team at Netflix that he was filing a lawsuit against them for defamation and lies.
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