The Tinder Swindler Breaks Silence, Claims To Be a Bitcoin OG —No Swindling Involved

Simon Leviev gained fame after the documentary The Tinder Swindler went viral on Netflix a few weeks ago. The media claims he made his fortune by taking advantage of women he met online, but in a recent interview, he claimed he got rich with a more straightforward method: investing in Bitcoin.

In an interview for Inside Edition, Simon Leviev – whose real name is Shimon Hayut – said that unlike what the media portrays, he was an entrepreneur who bought Bitcoin more than 10 years ago and got rich by simply hodling the coin.

Long Bitcoin

Simon Leviev had refused to talk about his life after the release of the documentary The Tinder Swindler. In the first interview he gave, he was emphatic in saying that the women accusing him of being a swindler were misrepresenting the facts.

Leviev denied being the son of a famous businessman in the diamond business and also denied having presented himself that way to his Tinder matches. Despite versions claiming that he made a fortune of approximately $10 million from his foul games, Leviev explained that it was all thanks to Bitcoin:

“I’m a legit businessman. you know, I bought bitcoin in 2011, which was [then worth] nothing, I don’t need to say how much it’s worth now.”

Bitcoin was priced at about $30 a token during its 2011 peak and $1 at its lowest point of the year. If Leviev is telling the truth, as of today, we would be talking about an investment with a baffling return between 118233% and 3549900%. To make the $10M they claim he swindled, he would have had to invest $282 max at the time.

Who is Simon Leviev, AKA The Tinder Swindler

According to the documentary The Tinder Swindler, Leviev used the dating app to meet girls and date those who filled a specific profile of being basically middle-aged, financially independent, and prone to being manipulated with his tactics.

During his encounters, he would entice his partners with dates in luxurious locations, flashing a supposed wealth that he justified by saying he was the son of a diamond mogul.

After some time, he would contact his partners, making them believe that he was being persecuted and threatened; therefore, he could not use his credit cards to pay for his business and personal expenses. The partners would lend him the money he needed, and eventually, Leviev would disappear.

The documentary producers obtained testimonies from three women conned with the same Modus Operandi.

Leviev denied everything and did not even present his version of events to Netflix. The girls have already raised $250K from the community, but now Leviev wants to clear his name.