In the Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler, we see how a con man, who goes by the name Simon Leviev, uses the dating app Tinder to trick women into believing that he is the son of the ultra-wealthy diamond tycoon Lev Leviev. It is believed that Simon Leviev has stolen an estimated 10 million dollars over the years from numerous women all over the world.

The documentary, directed by Felicity Morris (Don’t F*** With Cats), highlights the stories of three women who were conned by Leviev, whose real name is Shimon Yehuda Hayut. Cecilie Schrøder Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Koeleman banded together with a couple of journalists from the Norwegian newspaper VG to uncover his real identity and to bring him to justice. It’s currently Netflix’s most-watched title.

Schrøder, who was born in Norway and resides in London, is believed to be the first victim of Leviev. The two met on Tinder and started dating soon after he took her on ‘his’ private jet for a romantic five-star getaway. A few weeks into their relationship, Leviev tells her that his enemies are after him and that it is no longer safe for him to use his own credit cards. Schrøder is persuaded to take out nine personal loans to pay for Leviev’s luxurious lifestyle, amounting to US$250,000.

Leviev next befriends businesswoman Sjöholm, a Swedish native from Stockholm, on the same dating app. They start traveling together and frequent numerous luxury clubs and restaurants all over Europe. She suffered losses of around $45,000, money that paid for their lavish lifestyle.

Koeleman is the third victim who comes forward in the documentary, revealing that she loaned her ‘longtime boyfriend’ Leviev money up to the amount of $140,000.  The Dutch native told the documentary makers that she suspected that something wasn’t right, so she decided to get her money back by selling all of his designer clothes online.

The Israeli man pretended to be the CEO and heir of LLD Diamonds, but in reality, Hayut had no connection to Lev Leviev or the multibillion-dollar luxury diamond company. When contacted by Newsweek earlier this month, LLD came out with a statement letting the outlet know that they had filed a complaint with the Israeli police as soon as they learned of the fraud.

The company added that they hope that Hayut will face the justice he deserves: “LLD Diamonds has been a well-regarded leader in the diamond industry for three decades. Our company has no connection whatsoever with Shimon Hayut. He is a fraud who has tried to exploit our good name to con victims out of millions of dollars. Our sympathies go out to his victims. His fraud has also caused ongoing confusion about our company. Nothing he has said, about LLD or anything else, should be believed.”

Just 48 hours after the documentary was released on Netflix, Tinder decided to ban Leviev on its dating app. “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. 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,” Tinder said in an official statement to the press. The app also published a set of new guidelines titled “Romance Scams: How to Protect Yourself Online.

Cecilie Schrøder Fjellhøy and Pernilla Sjöholm say that they feel bad for Shimon Hayut, even after all the heartbreak and financial drama that he caused and created. “I think that he needs help. I really feel that he needs help and I feel sorry for him. That’s what I would like to say too. I feel really, really sorry for him. A very empty life he has,” said Schrøder during a sit-down interview with Drew Barrymore on The Drew Barrymore Show on Friday, February 11.

Along with Koeleman, Schrøder and Sjöholm have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help try and recover some of the money they have lost. “The past few days have been a whirlwind, and we three (Ayleen, Pernilla, and Cecilie) have been completely shocked and floored by the flood of compassion and support from everyone. The sheer love is more than we ever expected, and we appreciate you all so much,” the page reads.

At the time of writing, they have received $175,000 in donations. Their goal is to reach $810,000. Hayut has since criticized the page that has been set up by his victims. “Go ahead and help real associations… not these manipulators,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories on February 9th. “This is what is called MARKETING.”

The 31-year old Hayut was jailed in Israel for using a fake passport and sentenced to 15 months in prison for his crimes. However, due to good behavior, he served just five months before being released. He continues to be a free man. Hayut himself still claims that he is completely innocent.

When the documentary makers reached out to him for a response, he responded with a voice memo that was played at the end of the documentary: “I will proceed with the lawsuit against you for discrimination and lies and, you know, everything is based basically on a lie. And that’s it, this is how it’s going to be,” he said. He recently promised that he had plans to tell his own “side of the story: “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”, Hayut wrote before deleting his Instagram account.

Variety reports that Netflix is currently in talks with the producers of The Tinder Swindler about turning their documentary into a drama series. The outlet writes that the conversation is in the early stages and that the tone of a potential film is still being worked out.