TV
Where Is the ‘Tinder Swindler’ Now? All About Simon Leviev’s Life After Romance Fraud Scandal
Cecilie Fjellhøy is back on the small screen with Love Con Revenge. In the Netflix’s latest true-crime documentary series, Fjellhøy’s on a mission to hold romance scammers accountable and help their victims regain control.
The Love Con Revenge star herself is no stranger to love fraud. Viewers might recognize her from the streamer’s The Tinder Swindler film, which came out three years ago. She was one of several women to come forward and allege that Simon Leviev — who changed his name from Shimon Hayut — conned her out of thousands.
Those who watched the documentary likely remember how it ended: Leviev was sentenced to 15 months in prison for fraud, theft, and forgery in his home country of Israel, but he got out after five years. The women who appeared in the documentary — Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Koelema — were still paying off their debts. He was never charged with scamming them, and he denied any wrongdoing.
What’s Leviev been up to in the years since the documentary premiered? Scroll for everything we could find out.
What did Simon Leviev do?
He left Israel in 2011 to get out of going to trial for fraud, heading to Finland to begin his alleged scheme. After going to prison for two years in that country for scamming three women, he went back to Israel in 2017. He left for Europe before he could be arrested again, and that’s where the events of The Tinder Swindler begin.
Fjellhøy, Sjöholm, and Koelema claim that they connected with Leviev on Tinder, and he proceeded to tell them a fake story of being the rich heir to a diamond tycoon. He struck up a long distance relationship with them while he “traveled for work” and spent the funds of his previous victims, living lavishly.
At that point, he reportedly told the women that he was in danger and was in need of funds that couldn’t be tracked to his name. The then-girlfriends sent credit cards and cash and took out loans for Leviev. According to the the film, Leviev swindled $10 million from victims across the globe.
What happened to Simon Leviev after The Tinder Swindler?
Since the documentary aired, the 34-year-old has been living as a free man. The documentary revealed that after his release from prison, Leviev launched a website offering business advice for a fee. It also noted that he was dating an Israeli model, Kate Konlin. They have since split, and Konlin claimed that she stuck by his side due to emotional abuse, according to BBC.
Leviev’s Instagram, which has over 200,000 followers, has been set to private, but he’s engaged in a several interviews since the public turned its attention toward him. He maintains that he didn’t con the women who told their stories in the film. “I’m like Trump,” the Times quoted Leviev. “I can’t be knocked down; I’m invincible.”
Even as recently as last month, Leviev said as much. “First of all of this nonsense allegations are false, is absolutely not true,” Leviev said in a statement to This Morning. “I haven’t took a cent. It’s a lie trying to get out to con you, the viewers, in order to try to get out empathy, in order to victimize themselves and they call them in that cynical way ‘survivors,’ ‘fraud survivors.’ They’re not survivors. They’re not fraud survivors.”
Also according to The Times, Leviev has repeatedly said that he’s making his own documentary with Netflix, which the streamer denied. The outlet also said he was selling video messages on Cameo for $200.
Earlier this year, Leviev told The BlueTick Show that he has no plans to change his name — “it’s a brand right now” — and he has a movie, dating app, and book in the works. He wants to go into politics in the future. It’s his “biggest vision.” He also added that he’s seeing someone new and wants to have a family one day.
Love Con Revenge, Season 1 Premiere, September 5, Netflix
