Netflix has added yet another gripping new true crime doc to its ever-growing roster.
The Tinder Swindler has landed today (2 February) and centres on Cecilie Fjellhoy, a hopeless romantic who is looking for love online but finds herself trapped in one man's intricate web of deception. Watch the trailer below:
The film, which comes from the makers of Don't F**k with Cats, follows Cecilie, a Norwegian student living in London, on a whirlwind romance with Simon Leviev, a billionaire playboy and self-proclaimed 'Prince of Diamonds'.
As their relationship progresses, things start to take a turn for the worse, with Cecilie's new beau begging her for money to avoid being tracked down by people apparently out to kill him.
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Eventually, she discovers that Leviev isn't who he says he is and joins forces with other victims to bring him to justice.
The official synopsis reads: "Swipe, swipe, swipe... It’s not easy to find love online, so when Cecilie matches with a handsome billionaire playboy, she can’t quite believe it when he turns out to be the man of her dreams.
"But dreams aren't reality and by the time she discovers this international businessman isn’t who he says he is, it’s too late. He’s taken her for everything.
"Where this fairytale ends, a revenge thriller begins. Cecilie discovers his other targets and once they band together, they're victims no more: THE TINDER SWINDLER meets his match."
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Cecilie was just 29 years old when she matched with Leviev, instantly falling head over heels in love with him.
Speaking in the film, Cecilie says: "When I first talked with Simon, we immediately had a bond.
"It felt like stepping into a movie."
However, the fairytale quickly starts to become a living nightmare, one that left her hundreds of thousands of pounds in debt just weeks into their relationship.
Speaking to ABC's Nightline back in 2019 about the moment she realised she had been conned, Cecilie said: "I almost wanted to throw up, it was the first time in my life that I had gotten such a shock that my body physically was telling me that, 'OK your life is ruined'."
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It turned out that Leviev was in fact Shimon Hayut, who had made a career out of embedding himself into the lives of unsuspecting women and convincing them to part with millions.
He spent years travelling around the world on the run from the authorities, wanted for a series of crimes, including forgery and theft.
Hayut had also spent two years in Finnish prison for defrauding several women.
He was sentenced to 15 months in prison for theft, fraud, and forgery of documents in Israel - all charges from 2011- and was released after just five months for good behaviour.
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As well as Cecilie, the film also includes testimony from some of Hayut's other victims, Pernilla Sjoholm and Ayleen Charlotte - the latter is speaking out for the first time about her ordeal.
The Tinder Swindler is available to watch on Netflix now.
Topics: Netflix, TV and Film, Tinder, Simon Leviev, The Tinder Swindler
Dominic Smithers