The Tinder Swindler continues to surprise on Netflix’s charts as the most-watched movie in the world on the streaming platform. The documentary centers on Simon Leviev, a convicted Israeli fraudster who used Tinder to target women across Europe. The movie has been such a success that Netflix is reportedly working on a dramatization of the story.
The Felicity Morris-directed movie is at number one on the Top 10 Films chart in 94 countries with Netflix. This includes Leviev’s native Israel, as well as other countries throughout Europe where he carried out his crimes. Netflix viewers around the world watched 64.7 million hours of the 114-minute documentary during the week of Feb. 7-14. The film also topped the U.S. Top 10 Films chart.
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Leviev was born Shimon Hayut but legally changed his last name to Leviev to trick people into thinking he was related to billionaire diamond mogul Lev Leviev. The 31-year-old used Tinder to trick women into lending him money, which he never repaid. He would use the money he stole from one woman to convince his next target that he was wealthy before asking them to help him financially by taking out bank loans and new credit cards. He would pretend to pay his victims using fake bank documents before breaking off contact with them. Leviev allegedly conned his victims out of a combined $10 million. He was sentenced to three years in prison in Finland in 2015, and later spent five months of a 15-month sentence in an Israeli prison in 2020.
Since The Tinder Swindler documentary was released, Leviev was banned by most major dating apps, including Tinder. He claimed he is innocent in a recent interview with Inside Edition. “I was just a single guy that wanted to meet some girls on Tinder,” he said. “I am not a Tinder Swindler.” He also called the film a “complete made-up movie” and called himself the “biggest gentleman in the world.”
Although Leviev can’t use Tinder, he’s still using Instagram, where he has over 1.4 million followers now. He has also reportedly signed with talent manager Gina Rodriguez of Gitoni Inc. in an effort to launch his own show business career. Leviev is “looking into a potential podcast, hosting a dating show, and/or writing a book,” Entertainment Tonight reported.
Meanwhile, Variety reported earlier this month that Netflix was in talks with producers to develop a dramatization of Leviev’s story. Sources told the outlet that Netflix was in the very early stages of the project since executives need to decide what the tone for the movie should be. Netflix hasn’t commented.
