A victim of the infamous Tinder Swindler is now set to expose a slew of similar men who are using dating apps to scam women as part of a wild new Netflix show.
Entitled Love Con Revenge, the series will follow Cecilie Fjellhøy – who said she was conned out of $270,000 by fraudster Simon Leviev, real name Shimon Hayut, years ago – as she sets out on a quest to ‘unmask other scammers’ and help victims ‘reclaim their lives.’
She teamed up with private investigator Brianne Joseph ‘to delve into real schemes on behalf of women and men who can’t find help through traditional avenues,’ per a Netflix press release.
A trailer for the new show contains just a small glimpse of the drama that will unfold in the series.
It begins with footage that shows Cecilie confronting an unidentified man over the phone.
‘I’ll give you the short story: I’m not the swindler. I’m just a guy doing the best I can and being supported by wonderful people. I’m talking $10,000 every month,’ he says.
While speaking to the camera in another clip, Cecilie admits, ‘I never thought that I’d become a victim of romance fraud.’
It then shows a series of various victims detailing how much they had lost, ranging from $150,000 to a whopping $2 million.
Cecilie Fjellhøy was victim of infamous Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev, real name Shimon Hayut,(seen together) and has said she was conned out of $270,000
She now set to expose a slew of similar men who are using dating apps to scam women as part of a wild new Netflix show
‘These scammers have been getting away with this for way too long,’ Cecilie continues. ‘I just had to do something. Expose them and bring them to justice.’
One woman, named Jill Schardein, details in the teaser: ‘I met a man online. He was charming, handsome, a lady’s man, the perfect man. I mean, really, it was almost too good to be true.’
Another shares: ‘He called me up in desperation, saying that he needed money. It was only gonna be for 48 hours with the understanding that he’d pay it back.
‘But I looked in my account, and I just saw ATM withdrawals.’
Private investigator Brianne told the camera in a different clip, ‘I’m like a pit bull. When I grab hold of something, I don’t let it go.’
The six-episode show will premiere on Netflix on September 5.
While speaking with the Today show about the new series, Cecilie explained that she was inspired after the immense reaction to Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler, the popular 2022 crime doc that detailed Simon’s crimes.
‘I never imagined my story would resonate the way it has,’ she said. ‘Since The Tinder Swindler, I’ve heard from people all over the world who’ve been targeted by criminals hiding behind love.
Entitled Love Con Revenge, the series will follow Cecilie as she sets out on a quest to ‘unmask other scammers’ and help victims ‘reclaim their lives’
The trailer begins with footage that shows Cecilie confronting an unidentified man over the phone
‘These scammers have been getting away with this for way too long,’ Cecilie tells the camera in another clip. ‘I just had to do something. Expose them and bring them to justice’
‘Love Con Revenge is a way for me to use what I’ve learned to help others heal, reclaim their voices, their power, and their lives.’
Throughout 2018 and 2019, Simon allegedly conned multiple single women who he met through Tinder, including Cecilie, into giving him hundreds of thousands of dollars, earning him the nickname the Tinder Swindler.
It’s been said he pretended to be a billionaire son of Israeli diamond merchant Lev Leviev, and reportedly stole an estimated $10 million over the years.
Simon was ultimately arrested and charged with fraud, theft, and forgery and spent five months in prison before he was released on ‘good behavior’ in May 2020.
He was also ordered to pay his victims $43,289, and to pay a fine of $5,771 under the terms of a plea deal.
Norwegian graduate student Cecilie, who was 29 when she dated Simon, claimed she gave him more than $270,000 over the course of their relationship, after they connected via Tinder in January 2018.
She explained in the Netflix doc that she was completely wooed by Simon after he flew them from Bulgaria from London via a private plane for their first date.
It’s been said that Simon would shower the women he met on the dating app with expensive trips and opulent gifts, using the money he had taken from his other victims.
One woman, named Jill Schardein, details in the teaser: ‘I met a man online. He was charming, handsome, a lady’s man, the perfect man. I mean, really, it was almost too good to be true’
Another shares: ‘He called me up in desperation, saying that he needed money. It was only gonna be for 48 hours with the understanding that he’d pay it back’
Simon was ultimately arrested and charged with fraud, theft, and forgery and spent five months in prison before he was released on ‘good behavior’ in May 2020
He would then allegedly ask them for funds – claiming he was in danger and needed money to protect his identity from people who were out to kill him due to his dangerous diamond business.
When Netflix released the doc in 2022, Simon denied all of the claims made in the show and alleged that Netflix had twisted the story to make him look bad.
‘They presented it as a documentary but in truth it’s a completely made-up movie,’ he told Inside Edition. ‘I’m the biggest gentleman in the world.
‘I am not this monster that everybody has created. I was just a single guy that wanted to meet some girls on Tinder.
‘They weren’t conned and they weren’t threatened. No, I am not, and I never presented myself the son of a billionaire diamond mogul.
‘I’m a legit businessman. I got into Bitcoin in 2011, it was nothing. I don’t need to say how much it is worth now.
‘I feel bad for something that I didn’t do? No, I feel bad for whatever happened to myself. I want to clear my name. I want to say to the world, this is not true.
‘I am not a fraud and I’m not a fake. People don’t know me, so they cannot judge me.’
