Simon Leviev, the subject of Netflix’s documentary The Tinder Swindler, is planning on launching his own dating app.
Leviev, who gained fame after the 2022 documentary exposed his alleged patterns of romance fraud and financial crimes, plans to call the new dating app, Safe Love.
During an interview with Britain’s ITV’s Morning Show, Leviev, 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 on a false passport so yes, I do know how to lie. I do know how to cheat. I do know how to manipulate. It’s not something that I hide. I falsified a cheque. I lived 10 years under a false identity,” Leviev said.
“Obviously I’ve been convicted. Obviously, I’m not proud of it but it’s made me a set of skills that some other people don’t have out there,” he added.
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“There will be people watching this today who think it’s really distasteful that you as the ‘Tinder Swindler’ are launching a dating app,” ITV host Ben Shephard told Leviev.
“With everything that comes with it, with the trust that has to be implicit in one of those things, when you’re notorious for being anything other than trustworthy,” Shephard added.
Leviev said that he has to prove himself and “create something so great.”
“Obviously, it needs to be regulated and I need to get approval. I know unfortunately how the system works and I designed something to protect the world and there is nothing out there like this,” Leviev responded.
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 of diamond mogul Lev Leviev on the dating app and swindled women into lending him money, which he never repaid, the outlet 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 alleged that he would pretend he was being pursued by criminals and ask them to transfer him large sums of money before disappearing.
After Leviev revealed his plans to launch the dating app, he received backlash from the Online Dating and Discovery Association.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) reports that the Online Dating and Discovery Association (ODDA) has sent letters to Apple and Google to ask them to cancel Leviev’s planned app and consider the harmful impact that could occur if they host a dating app founded by Leviev.
“In our view, a convicted fraudster having any involvement in our industry seriously undermines the work our sector is doing to tackle fraud,” ODDA chief Simon Newman told ICIJ in a statement.
“It can only have negative repercussions for platforms and users alike,” he said. “We believe it should not be allowed to happen, and that action is needed to prevent it.”
Global News has reached out to the Online Dating and Discovery Association, Google and Apple for further comment, but has not received a response.
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