The Tinder Swindler

The persona

Hayut matched victims on Tinder posing as Simon Leviev, the son of diamond billionaire Lev Leviev. Profile photos showed private jets, bodyguards, and Black Card receipts — all real, all rented or borrowed from the previous victim's funds.

The playbook

1. Love-bomb — within days he flew matches to Mykonos, Bulgaria, or Mallorca on a private jet (rented with the previous victim's credit cards). 2. Manufacture danger — he claimed his "enemies" had attacked his bodyguard. Photos of a bloodied man (his own associate) were sent for proof. 3. The ask — he could not use his own cards "for security" and needed her to open credit lines or wire funds. The amounts started small and escalated to six figures. 4. The next victim — the money funded the next round of flights, hotels, and gifts to lure the next target.

Court record

• 2015: convicted of three counts of fraud in Helsinki, served 2 years
• 2017: arrested in Athens on a stolen-passport charge after impersonating Leviev
• 2019: convicted in Tel Aviv of fraud, forgery, and theft — sentenced to 15 months, released after 5 for good behavior

Why this template still works in 2026

Dating-app romance scams remain the #1 reported category by dollar loss in the FTC's annual fraud report. The Hayut playbook — wealth signalling, jet travel, manufactured emergency, escalating ask — is now copy-pasted by hundreds of low-budget operators on Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge.

Red flags to act on immediately: - Refuses video calls or only uses pre-recorded clips - Story changes about why he can't access his own funds - Reverse-image search of his photos returns a different name - Pressure to move to WhatsApp or Telegram within 48 hours