‘TINDER SWINDLER’ SIMON LEVIEV ARRESTED IN GEORGIA AT INTERPOL’S REQUEST

September 15, 2025

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Agency Report

Israeli conman Simon Leviev, widely known as the “Tinder Swindler” following a hit Netflix documentary, has been arrested in Georgia, officials confirmed on Monday.

Leviev, 34, whose real name is Shimon Yehuda Hayut, was detained at Batumi airport on the Black Sea coast at the request of Interpol, interior ministry spokesman Tato Kuchava told AFP. No further details were immediately provided.

Between 2017 and 2019, Leviev allegedly posed as the son of a wealthy diamond mogul on the dating app Tinder, luring women into lending him large sums of money that he never repaid. His scheme, which involved an elaborate facade of private jets, luxury hotels, and bodyguards, is believed to have defrauded victims across Norway, Finland, and Sweden of an estimated $10 million.

His crimes gained international attention after Netflix released The Tinder Swindler in 2022, a documentary that detailed the harrowing experiences of his victims and exposed the extent of his romance fraud.

The arrest marks the latest chapter in one of the world’s most infamous online dating scams.