You’ve read about serial scammers, but Simon Leviev of Netflix series Tinder Swindler takes the cake when it comes to being a conman.
Whilst he is no catfish, the handsome Israeli man has conned women into falling in love with him…and raking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
But is Simon Leviev a real-life criminal, and if so, where is he now?
UPDATE ON ‘TINDER SWINDLER’ SCAMMER SIMON LEVIEV
Contrary to his own account, Simon Leviev is not the son of diamond tycoon Lev Leviev.
In fact, the Tinder Swindler scammer was actually born Shimon Yehuda Hayut. According to the Netflix documentary, he officially changed his name as a young man.
His modus operandi is the same; woo women he meets on Tinder by showing them a life of luxury filled with luxury hotel stays, private jets and elaborate gifts. Slowly, he would entrap them in a web of debt, asking them to take out loans and credit cards for his perusal.
He promises to pay them back, all whilst continuing his facade of being in love with them.
According to Esquire magazine, Simon Leviev was a wanted man in several countries, including in Israel, Sweden, England, Germany, Denmark, and Norway.
The conman was eventually nabbed by the police after using a fake passport in Greece in 2019. Thereafter, he was extradited to Israel where he was convicted of theft, fraud, and forgery of documents. However the charges stemmed from crimes committed prior to 2011.
Simon Leviev was sentenced to 15 months in prison but served a mere five months due to “good behaviour”. According to reports, he currently lives in Israel as a free man. He has yet to be charged for his crimes committed as seen in Tinder Swindler.
Simon Leviev is still active on social media and has over 120 000 Instagram followers.
SA’S OWN SIMON LEVIEV ON THE RUN
The Tinder Swindler star is not the only con-man using a false identity to make headlines of late.
Closer to home, Jacques Arthur Malot who posed as a Blue Bulls rugby player, is also wanted for crimes relating to fraud, theft, harassment and assault.
The Gauteng man shares similarities with Simon Leviev – luring women on dating sites and then swindling them out of large sums of money. Malot has been hailed a “master manipulator” who preys on women he meets online.
According to Saturday Star, three women have officially come forward to accuse Malot of crimes relating to theft, fraud and sexual harassment. One woman even claims Malot stole goods to the value of R120 000 from her home.
Private Investigator Jan Roos told the publication that Malot is “either in Ellisras, Limpopo or in Cape Town”. Malot is considered dangerous and the public are cautioned not to approach him directly, claims the PI.