Los Angeles, Feb 8: Tinder has announced its decision to remove and ban Netflix documentary ‘The Tinder Swindler’. Directed by Felicity Morris, the documentary shows Israeli con man Shimon Hayut who stole USD 10 million by tricking women through the dating app while claiming to be Simon Leviev, a wealthy son of a diamond dealer. According to Haaretz, Hayut, who was also previously convicted of defrauding three Finnish women and served three years in prison before being released on bail, served five months of a 15-month prison sentence after his arrest in June 2019.
The Independent quoted a spokesperson for Tinder as saying on Monday that Hayut is no longer active on the app under any of his aliases and has been banned since his actions became public in 2019. “We banned Simon Leviev and any of his known aliases as soon as the story of his actions became public in 2019. He is permanently banned from Tinder,” the spokesperson added. Tinder further said in a statement that in the “lead up to the release of the documentary, we conducted additional internal investigations and can confirm Simon Leviev is not active on Tinder under any of his known aliases.” According to The Independent, following the release of the documentary earlier this month, Hayut gained 200,000 followers on Instagram, where he frequently shared photos of his allegedly lavish lifestyle. However, after facing backlash from his viewers, Hayut deleted his account and thanked his followers for their “support”. “I will share my side of the story in the next few days when I have sorted out the best and most respectful way to tell it, both to the involved parties and myself. Until then, please keep an open mind and heart,” he said.
