A Timeline of 'Tinder Swindler' Simon Hayut's Scams

According to interviews by documentary director Felicity Morris, Hayut has exhibited fraudulent tendencies since his teenage years. This all reached a culmination in 2011 when he was charged with theft, fraud, and forgery after stealing a check in his hometown in Israel. Between his check frauds, fake passports, and forged identities, Hayut was setting himself up to be the professional con man he is today.

In the gap between his flight to Europe from Israel and his eventual indictment for his first fraud crimes, Hayut's first stint of defrauding women occurred in Finland. 

He was arrested after three of his victims came forward in 2015, and was sentenced to three years in jail. Hayut wrapped up his sentence early and came out with no redemption. In The Tinder Swindler documentary, ex-girlfriend and victim Cecilie Fjellhøy believes that he used his time in prison to amp up his plans. "He knew he would just continue, continue, continue," says Fjellhøy. 

Upon his return to Israel in 2017, Hayut swiftly fled again and changed his identity to Simon Leviev.

From 2017 to 2019, Hayut, now known as Simon Leviev, assumed the identity of a wealthy CEO of an existing diamond company called LLD Diamonds. Claiming to be the son of billionaire Lev Leviev, known as "The King of Diamonds," he successfully painted the portrait of a wealthy diamond heir, referring to himself as "The Prince of Diamonds."

All of this plays out in the Netflix documentary, which breaks down his modus operandi in incredible detail. Being seen as the CEO of a massive diamond corporation meant that Hayut/Leviev would have many "enemies" after him for...reasons. Of course, the attacks from his so-called enemies were simply ploys to extract money from his victims, who believed that 1) they were protecting him by paying for flights and keeping him in hiding 2) they would eventually get their money back in a short time frame. Surely, a billionaire can repay a debt of $30,000, right?

Through this fabricated tale of being a powerful man in a dangerous business, he was able to convince his various victims, who believed themselves to be true friends and lifelong loves of Hayut, to take out bank loans and send over their savings to keep him safe. 

Three of Hayut's most well-known victims, who were featured in The Tinder Swindler, were just a few among many who suffered extreme financial loss after Hayut left their lives. These women are Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjoholm, and Ayleen Charlotte, who hail from Norway, Sweden, and the Czech Republic, respectively. 

Though the three women lived in completely different countries in Europe, they all shared the same experiences that they believed were especially their own. Hotel dates, luxury travel, a slew of romantic messages and gestures, and an intimate connection with a man that cared for them. He would simultaneously be living separate lives with all of them; Fjellhøy was looking for apartments for the couple to live in London, and Charlotte dated Hayut for 14 months. Sjoholm was Hayut/Leviev's good friend that enjoyed many trips, in which he was accompanied by another girlfriend named Polina. 

Hayut was able to maintain these lifestyles and run around Europe thanks to the credit cards and money given to him by his companions. Though suspicions arose after his attempts to reimburse them—such as the checks made out to Fjellhøy bouncing and the alleged $100,000 watch given to Sjoholm being fake—it wasn't until the involvement of credit card companies, who were very familiar with Hayut, did the defrauded learn the truth.

With the help of a team of Norwegian journalists at VG, Fjellhøy and Sjoholm were able to expose Hayut's crimes to the world in an article called "The Tinder Swindler." After weeks of Hayut hiding from the press, Charlotte tipped off the police in Greece, prompting his arrest after fleeing to Athens on a fake passport.

The ladies have since launched a GoFundMe to help recover some of their financial losses post-Hayut.

The Tinder Swindler was released on February 2, inviting a slew of media controversy and social media commentary around Hayut and his swindling stint.  

In the aftermath of the documentary, it seems like Hayut—still using the alias Simon Leviev—has returned to his normal routine. After serving only five months in prison, his now-deleted Instagram account suggested that his former life remained untouched, enjoying his riches in Israel and a new relationship with girlfriend Kate Konlin.

It seems that Hayut is continuing to sell himself as a businessman, with some of his current ventures including (now defunct) online business courses and marketing himself as a celebrity. According to TMZ, he is planning to launch a career in Hollywood, signing with talent agent Gina Rodriguez. Hayut promptly shut down his social media with the intent of saving his life happenings for a future tell-all book.

In addition to signing to agents and attempts to capitalize on his infamy, he is further solidifying his perceived celebrity status by offering $150 Cameo shout-outs and business-oriented videos for upwards of $1000 on the platform.

Although Hayut has not faced any further legal repercussions since his prison release, he has now been banned from the use of a number of dating apps—his former hunting ground—after the release of the documentary. You won't be seeing a dashing Simon Leviev on yachts, in cities, and on private jets on dating platforms like Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and, of course, Tinder.

Dating apps weren't the only social media platform that Hayut is no longer welcome on. In an event of poetic justice, Hayut became a swindling victim himself according to a TMZ article. The scammer got scammed after paying $6,000 to an alleged Meta representative in the hopes of earning a blue check verification on his and Konlin's Instagram accounts.

Despite a prison sentence, written exposé, and documentary from the perspective of various victims and associates, Hayut has categorically denied being a fraudster. In an Inside Edition interview with Konlin by his side, the swindler says that he is "not this 'monster' that everyone has created,'" and that the defrauded women were not "conned or threatened" by him.  

In further confirmation of Hayut's non-relation to Lev Leviev, he is facing a lawsuit from the Leviev family for his presenting himself as a member of the diamond magnate. Filed in Tel Aviv, Hayut is being accused of “receiving numerous benefits (including material ones), cunningly and using false words, and claiming to be a member of the Leviev Family.”