The Tinder Swindler conman whose scams are the focus of an explosive new Netflix documentary has deleted the Instagram account where he flaunted photos of his lavish lifestyle – just two days after the streaming site premiered its new tell-all.
Throughout 2018 and 2019, Shimon Hayut, 31, tricked multiple single women – who he met through the dating app Tinder – into giving him hundreds of thousands of dollars while pretending to be a billionaire named Simon Leviev.
Now, Netflix has dropped a new documentary about his ploys – sparking huge media coverage and increased backlash against Shimon – who appears to have become somewhat publicity-shy in the light of the renewed scrutiny.
So much so that the convicted conman chose to delete his social media account, which he had been regularly updating with snippets from his high-flying lifestyle, from photos of himself posing on private jets to videos of himself behind the wheel of luxury cars.
Hiding something? The Tinder Swindler disabled his Instagram – where he often flaunted his lavish lifestyle – two days after Netflix dropped a doc detailing his crimes
In 2018 and 2019, Shimon Hayut (pictured in October 2021) tricked multiple women into giving him thousands of dollars while pretending to be a billionaire named Simon Leviev.
Shimon was ultimately arrested and charged with fraud, theft, and forgery. He spent five months in prison before he was released on ‘good behaviour’ in May 2020.
Soon after, Simon began sharing photos of himself enjoying a life of luxury on Instagram and continued to flaunt it until the account was removed on Friday.
Just one month after he was released, he posted a snap of himself on a boat while he held a cigar and was surrounded by alcohol.
‘Let the summer begin,’ he captioned it.
Back in November, the conman posted numerous videos of himself flying in a private plane.
And one week before that, he shared a clip of himself driving in his bright red convertible while grinning at the camera and giving a thumbs up.
Other posts over the last year showed him partying on a yacht, eating in expensive restaurants, staying in five-star hotels, taking numerous helicopter rides, skydiving, and vacationing all over the world.
He addressed the Netflix doc on Friday, writing on his Instagram Story, ‘Thank you for all your support.
‘I will share my side of the story in the next few days when I have sorted out the best and most respectful way to tell it, both to the involved parties and myself. Until then, please keep an open mind and heart.’
However, hours later, the account disappeared completely.
In the Netflix documentary, which came out on February 2, three of his victims – Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Charlotte – spoke out about how Shimon convinced them to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Shimon – who stole an estimated $10 million over the years, told them he was the son of Israeli diamond merchant Lev Leviev.
Although Lev and his diamond business LLD Diamonds is real, he has no relation to Simon and has ‘filed a complaint against him with police for falsely presenting himself as his son.’
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.
