One of the world's most notorious fraudsters now wants to protect others from fraud. Shimon Hayut, known globally as the "Tinder Swindler," has revealed he is working on a new dating app that he says is designed to identify lies, fake users and scam attempts.
Hayut, born Shimon Yehuda Hayut in Israel, gained worldwide notoriety following the Netflix documentary "The Tinder Swindler." The film featured testimony from women who said they met him on dating apps, and that after he gained their trust and convinced them he was a wealthy businessman, they transferred large sums of money to him. Hayut continues to deny the claims presented in the documentary.
From Tinder Swindler to anti-fraud crusader
In an interview on ITV's "This Morning," Hayut said he is developing a dating app called "Safe Love," which he claims will allow people to find relationships more safely and help expose fake users and liars.
Hayut addressed his past directly, saying he knows how scammers operate. "I know how to lie, I know how to cheat, I know how to manipulate," he admitted in the interview, adding that he does not hide the fact that he has been convicted in the past.
Hayut has been convicted of fraud, theft and forgery offenses, and served prison time in both Israel and Finland. In Israel, he was sentenced in 2019 to 15 months in prison and was released after approximately five months. However, the Israeli conviction was not related to the claims made by the women who appeared in the Netflix documentary.
