Getty Image / TORE KRISTIANSEN/AFP/iStockphoto/Tonktiti
The Tinder Swindler pictured next to a dating app user
Remember the Tinder Swindler? Well, he’s back. The Tinder Swindler was born Shimon Yehuda Hayut but went by the name Simon Leviev and gained international fame for swindling women on Tinder into supporting his jet setting lifestyle until his house of cards came crashing down.
His story was turned into a Netflix documentary which became the most-watched documentary in Netflix history, with The Tinder Swindler racking up over 166 million viewing hours in the first four weeks after it was released. Prior to the 2022 documentary, he was arrested and sentenced to 15 months in prison but only served 5 months.
He was reportedly arrested again in 2025 in the country of Georgia but released after Germany authorities withdrew their extradition request. And now he’s on British daytime TV telling his story and announcing a new dating app which he claims is to protect people from scammers like him, or like he used to be.
The Tinder Swindler Is Back With A Dating App
During the interview below, he attempted to set the record straight on his checkered past. Though the hosts kept interrupting him or telling him to slow down, claiming he was “saying a lot” when in reality he was simply telling his story. And I don’t say that to defend the guy but they really did but in unnecessarily several times when he was explaining the past.
This portion of the interview picks up where he discusses embracing his past. The Tinder Swindler says he is a father and wants to protect people from harm. And that he is now launching a new dating app, Safe Love, which will have stricter identity verification standards than other dating apps on the market.
In the interview he admits living for 10 years on a fake passport. The Tinder Swindler evidently knows the ins and outs of scamming. And that makes him uniquely suited to understanding vulnerabilities in identity verification…But is that really the type of person the world wants in charge of their dating apps?
Tinder uses facial recognition technology and government-issued IDs for verification. Bumble uses government ID and biometric verification powered by Veriff. It remains to be seen what this new app will look like as it isn’t live yet but given the fame of The Tinder Swindler documentary on Netflix I am certain we will all hear about the app once it’s live.