Simon Leviev, subject of the Netflix documentary Tinder scammerHe plans to launch his own dating app.
Leviev, who gained fame after a 2022 documentary exposed his alleged patterns of romance fraud and financial crimes, plans to launch a new dating app, Safe Love.
during An interview with the British channel ITV Morning showLeviev, whose real name is Shimon Yehuda Hayut, said he believes his knowledge of “how to lie” makes him the right person to help others avoid romance scams.
“I lived 10 years with a fake passport, so yeah, I know how to lie. I know how to cheat. I know how to manipulate. It’s not something I hide. I forged a check. I lived 10 years under a fake identity,” Leviev said.
He added: “Obviously I was convicted. Obviously I’m not proud of it, but it gave me a skill set that some other people don’t have.”
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“There will be people watching this today who think it’s really distasteful that you as a ‘Tinder Swindler’ are launching a dating app,” ITV host Ben Sheppard told Leviev.
“With everything that comes with it, with the trust that has to be implicit in one of those things, when you have a reputation for being anything other than trustworthy,” Sheppard added.
Leviev said he had to prove himself and “create something very great.”
Leviev responded: “It obviously needs to be regulated and I need to get approval. Unfortunately I know how the system works and I designed something to protect the world and there is nothing like this.”
Leviev was convicted of fraud, theft and forgery in 2019 and sentenced to 15 months in prison. According to the BBC. He was released after serving only five months.
He posed as the wealthy heir to diamond magnate Lev Leviev on a dating app and tricked women into loaning him money, which he never repaid, according to reports.
His victims shared their stories in the Netflix documentary, claiming they were lured into romantic relationships with him filled with private jets and luxury holidays.
Once they were in a relationship with Leviev, the women claimed he would pretend to be followed by criminals and ask them to transfer large sums of money to him before disappearing.
After Leviev revealed his plans to launch a dating app, he received backlash from the Online Dating and Discovery Association.
the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists The Online Dating and Discovery Association (ODDA) has sent letters to Apple and Google asking them to cancel Leviev’s planned app and consider what harmful impact it could have if they hosted a dating app founded by Leviev, ICIJ reported.
“In our view, any convicted fraudster with any connection to our industry seriously undermines the work our sector does to tackle fraud,” ODDA President Simon Newman told ICIJ in a statement.
“It can only have negative repercussions for platforms and users alike,” he said. “We believe this should not be allowed to happen, and action is needed to prevent this.”
Global News reached out to the Online Dating and Discovery Association, Google and Apple for further comment, but did not receive a response.
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