Tinder has confirmed that Shimon Hayut - aka Simon Leviev - has been banned from the dating app in the wake of the renewed interest in the case following the release of a new Netflix documentary.
The Tinder Swindler exposed how Hayut posed as a wealthy Israeli named Simon Leviev on the app in order to allegedly defraud women out of millions of dollars.
His apparent crimes first became public knowledge in 2019 after he was arrested in Greece for travelling on a fake passport, but Netflix's documentary has sparked a new level of interest in Hayut, leading Tinder to issue a statement confirming he was no longer active on the app.
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'We banned Simon Leviev and any of his known aliases as soon as the story of his actions became public in 2019. He is permanently banned from Tinder,' a spokesperson for the app told The Independent.
They added that ahead of the release of The Tinder Swindler the app conducted 'additional internal investigations' to make sure Hayut was 'not active on Tinder under any of his known aliases.'
While filming the documentary producers spoke to dozens of women who claimed to have been tricked by Hayut through the app, estimating that he was able to con his targets out of a total of $10 million (£7.4 million.)
Connecting with women while travelling through Europe, Hayut would reportedly use money he had stolen from previous targets in order to lavish women with gifts, expensive dinners and trips on a private jet, before asking them to loan him money so that he could pay off people who were threatening him.
In the wake of interest in the case three of Hayut's victims have reportedly set up a GoFundMe page to try and recoup their losses, raising over £30,000 at the time of writing.
Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm and Ayleen Charlotte say they were left with debts of £185k, £25k, and £103k respectively following their interactions with Hayut.
'We realise there are a thousand other worthy causes to donate to, and remain forever grateful if you choose to donate to this one. All we want are our lives back,' they wrote.
Hayut had previously been sentenced to three years in prison in Finland after being convicted of defrauding a number of women in 2012. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported in 2019 that upon his arrest and return to his home country he was sentenced to 15 months in prison on previous charges of fraud and forgery, but was ultimately released after five months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, you can contact Victim Support on 08 08 16 89 111, start a live chat, or visit the website, all of which are available 24 hours seven days a week
Topics: Tinder, Film and TV
Hannah Smith