Shimon Hayut has announced plans to launch his own dating app despite his history of allegedly scamming women he met through Tinder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fvJHvZU7cI
Hayut, 35, who posed as “Simon Leviev” and claimed to be the son of billionaire diamond trader Lev Leviev, appeared on the UK’s ITV program This Morning to discuss the venture. The interview grew tense as host Ben Shepard pressed him on whether he was truly remorseful for the crimes that landed him in prison in 2019.
“I do know how to get out, I lived 10 years on a false passport so, yeah I do know how to lie, I do know how to cheat and I do know how to manipulate,” Hayut said on the program. “It’s not something I hide, I falsify a cheque, I live ten years under a false identity. When I was 20 years old, I travelled on a 36-year-old’s passport, so yes I crossed hundreds of border controls around the world.”
He continued: “Obviously I’ve been convicted, obviously I’m not proud of it, but it makes me a set of skills that some other people don’t have.”
Shepard interrupted the former fraudster, challenging his tone. “I’m gonna be honest Simon… I’m really sorry, you say you’re not proud of it but it certainly sounds like you’re proud of it,” the host said. “It certainly sounds like the notoriety, what you’ve achieved, what you’ve been through and yes you have been in jail and served your time for a number of crimes, not all the crimes you’ve been accused of.”
Shepard added that Hayut appeared to be listing his criminal history “like accolades” rather than expressing genuine remorse. The host told him directly that viewers would find the dating app launch “really distasteful” given his reputation for being “anything other than trustworthy.”
Hayut’s unapologetic demeanor drew further criticism when he referred to the 2022 Netflix documentary about his crimes as a “nice story.” Shepard pushed back sharply on the characterization.
“Simon! Simon! Simon! I think quantifying it as nice is really distasteful and of course it’s not a ‘nice’ story,” Shepard said. “I think what your saying is a narrative, an interesting narrative and there’s nothing nice about The Tinder Swindler and there’s nothing nice about what it is that these women went through and they have accused you of. Nice, is not a word that I think that is suitable in this position.”
The 2022 Netflix documentary “The Tinder Swindler” detailed how Hayut allegedly stole millions from multiple women after developing romantic relationships with them on the dating platform. He posed as a wealthy businessman, gained their trust, and then claimed he was in financial difficulty, promising to repay the money he borrowed. He was sent to prison in 2019 but was reportedly released in 2020 after serving five months during the coronavirus pandemic.
Hayut had previously denied defrauding the women in a 2022 interview, where he described himself as “a single guy who wanted to meet some girls on Tinder.”