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Shimon Yehuda Hayut, known as the Tinder Swindler, was arrested in Batumi. He denies Netflix fraud claims and faces new lawsuits, including one from Iren Tranov for unpaid debts.
Simon Hayut, centre, known as the “Tinder Swindler,”. (AFP via Getty Images file)
Israeli media reports that the infamous “Tinder Swindler,” Shimon Yehuda Hayut, 35, was arrested by Georgian authorities on Sunday.
According to Walla, Hayut, from Israel, was reportedly detained yesterday morning after landing at Batumi International airport. His attorney told the outlet that the grounds are still unknown, even to them.
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‘I spoke with him this morning after he was detained, but we don’t yet understand the reason,’ they said, adding: ‘He has been travelling freely around the world.’
Hayut, also known by multiple aliases such as Simon Leviev, rose to infamy after a 2022 Netflix documentary alleged that he swindled women he met on Tinder out of roughly £7.4 million, pretending to be the son of a billionaire diamond tycoon.
Netflix exposed how Hayut would match with a woman on Tinder before taking her out on a lavish first date. Accusers claim he would gain their trust before urgently messaging the women to say his credit card could not be used for security reasons and asking them to open a new one in their name for him to use.
According to the victims, they were left with suicidal feelings and crippling bank debts.
Hayut has rejected all the accusations, insisting he is “not a fraud and not a fake,” but rather a “legitimate businessman” who built his wealth through Bitcoin investments.
In 2019, he was convicted on four counts of fraud in Israel and handed a 15-month prison sentence, of which he served five. Hayut was also ordered to pay approximately £35,000 in restitution to his victims and fined around £4,600 for possessing a false passport.
In 2020, Hayut was then accused of pretending to be a medical worker to get a COVID-19 vaccination while still not eligible, Channel 12 reported at the time.
According to the news channel, Hayut was refused a vaccine at a centre in Bnei Brak but allegedly joined a group of medical workers arriving for their shots, claiming to be a paramedic.
‘The person was vaccinated after he presented himself as a medical worker,’ the health organisation said in a statement.
‘Regrettably, there are people who are harming the trust shown by staff, and we condemn this act.’
Four years later, and two after Netflix aired its explosive claims,
A criminal complaint was launched against Hayut four years later, and two years after Netflix aired its explosive claims, as Ephraim and Ruthy Leviev Yelizarov claimed he had damaged the family’s reputation when Hayut impersonated their brother.
Norwegian graduate student Cecilie, who was 29 at the time she dated Hayut, alleged that she gave him over $270,000 during their relationship after they met on Tinder in January 2018.
In the Netflix doc, she explained that she was completely wooed by Hayut after he flew them from Bulgaria from London via a private plane for their first date.
It was alleged that Hayut lavished the women he met on the dating app with luxury trips and extravagant gifts, funded by money he had taken from previous victims.
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.
After the documentary was released in 2022 by Netflix, Hayut rejected all of its allegations, accusing the platform of distorting the story to tarnish his image. Speaking to Inside Edition at the time, he said, “They presented it as a documentary, but in reality it’s a completely fabricated movie. I’m the biggest gentleman in the world. I’m not the monster people have made me out to be — I was just a single man looking to meet women on Tinder.”
“They weren’t conned, and they weren’t threatened. No, I am not, and I never presented myself as 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 me. 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.”
In November 2024, Hayut faced another lawsuit after his former acquaintance, Iren Tranov, alleged that she had lent him more than 144,000 shekels (£32,000) in 2022, which he never repaid. According to the Jerusalem Post, she is now suing him for 414,000 shekels.
Israel
September 15, 2025, 16:40 IST
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