The notorious “Tinder Swindler” got the taste of his own medicine after a pair of tricksters scammed him to fork out more than $7,000, promising they could have his Instagram account verified and get rid of all the fake accounts under his name.
The conman, Shimon Heyada Hayut, 31, turned into a criminal superstar this year following the release of a Netflix docu-series that followed Simon Leviev as he claimed to be the son of Israeli billionaire diamond magnate Lev Leviev, the Daily Mail reported.
As a fake Leviev, Hayut allegedly courted and ghosted a string of women worldwide, including Pernilla Sjoholm and Cecilie Fjellhøy, leaving them nearly $10 million out of pocket. However, he maintains his innocence and is currently dating model Kate Konlin.
To date, Shimon made several attempts to establish his online presence on Instagram by sharing images of a purported glamorous life that includes high-end fashions, jet-setting, and fancy sports cars.
Last week, a verified Instagram personality named Richnana reportedly approached Hayut and offered to assist him to become legitimized with a blue checkmark.
Ultimately, the IG scammer promised to remove mock profiles set up by people posing as the “Tinder Swindler” and also verify Konlin’s IG.
Richnana then claimed that her beau, Chris Fox, worked at Instagram's parent company, Meta, and could help Hayut solve his issues on Instagram for $6,664. Shortly after, the payments were sent via PayPal through two separate transactions.
Simon's manager would later find the deal suspicious and opted to reach out to an actual team member at Meta, who in turn clarified the headquarters don't charge for verifications.
When Hayut’s camp tried to get in touch with Richnana and her beau, the duo completely scrubbed themselves from the Internet and walked away with the cash.
In a strange twist, the social platform moved to verify Simon's Instagram on Tuesday after his manager reached out to Meta to get it done, according to TMZ.
Meanwhile, according to a lawsuit filed in Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court in Israel, the real Leviev family is suing the “Tinder Swindler” for claiming to be a member of their diamond magnate clan and damaging their reputation after scamming several women on the dating app.
The Levievs are accusing Hayut of "making false representations as being the son of Lev Leviev and receiving numerous benefits (including material ones), cunningly and using false words, claiming to be a member of the Leviev Family, and that his family (Leviev) will pay and bear the costs of his benefits,” the paperwork reads.
In a statement on Monday, Guy Ophir, the Leviev family’s attorney, warned the initial lawsuit was “only the beginning of several lawsuits,” vowing to slap the conman and his affiliates with a subsequent monetary suit, NBC News noted.
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