Simon Leviev, of Tinder Swindler fame, spent last weekend enjoying himself on the beach in Tel Aviv. A surfer dining at the same restaurant as Leviev identified and photographed him and his bodyguard. Unsurprisingly, he was chatting up a number of women.
The Netflix documentary film, The Tinder Swindler, came out in February 2022 and details the exploits of Leviev as he uses Tinder to connect with and emotionally manipulate women into giving him money. Born Shimon Hayut, he changed his name in order to pretend to be the son of diamond mogul Lev Leviev as part of his con.
Who is Simon Leviev?
Leviev lured women into his scheme by taking them out on lavish dates and garnering their affection before tricking them into believing that his "enemies" were after him and impacting his access to funds. The victims would lend him money which he repaid in forged bank transfers before breaking off contact and moving on to the next woman.
Simon Leviev had previously been arrested in 2015 and 2019 and served a 15-month prison sentence in Finland and Israel, where he was released after only five months due to the pandemic. He denies any wrongdoing connected to the cases detailed in the Netflix film.
As Tel Aviv beachgoers could see this past weekend, Leviev is still unabashedly living his indulgent lifestyle - albeit a touch more carefully than before.