The subject of Netflix’s hit true-crime documentary “The Tinder Swindler,” known as Simon Leviev, has been banned from Tinder and other dating apps, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The documentary centers on Israeli fraudster Leviev ― reportedly born Shimon Hayut ― who allegedly posed as the son of a wealthy diamond mogul to swindle women he formed relationships with out of millions of dollars.
The film, which hit the streaming service on Feb. 2, had revealed that Leviev was back on Tinder. But the company has since confirmed that he is no longer on the app.
“We have conducted internal investigations and can confirm Simon Leviev is no longer active on Tinder under any of his known aliases,” a Tinder spokesperson told WSJ on Monday.
The spokesperson also confirmed to the publication that Leviev is banned from other dating apps under Tinder’s parent company Match Group Inc., which include Match.com, Plenty of Fish, Hinge and OkCupid.
Leviev was banned from Tinder in 2019 but then unsuccessfully tried to create an account in 2021, the spokesperson added.
“The Tinder Swindler” features the stories of three women, Cecilie Fjellhøy, Ayleen Charlotte and Pernilla Sjöholm, who share their accounts of how Leviev scammed them after meeting them on Tinder between 2018 and 2019.
The documentary revealed allegations that Leviev would take women he met on the dating app on high-end dates and luxurious excursions before later asking for loans of money, claiming he was in trouble. The fraud victims claimed that Leviev did not pay back the funds he was loaned.
In 2015, he was convicted of fraud against three women in Finland and was sentenced to two years in prison, The Washington Post reported.
Leviev had been charged with theft, forgery and fraud in Israel in 2011, but fled to Europe before he could be sentenced, according to Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang (VG).
Two years later, a new criminal case was opened against him but he fled again, VG reported. He was later arrested in Athens, Greece, in 2019 and extradited back to Israel, where he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for theft and fraud. Leviev was released after five months, according to the publication.
“The Tinder Swindler” features a voice message from Leviev, in which he responds to a request to appear in the film by calling all the allegations “a lie.”
“I will proceed with the lawsuit against you for defamation and lies and, you know, that everything is based, basically, on a lie,” he says, according to WSJ. “And that’s it, this is how it’s gonna be.”