Shimon Hayat better know as Simon Leviev has become something of a sensation following the hit Netflix show, The Tinder Swindler.
The documentary shows three women that have been duped by Simon, a 31 year old man they met on Tinder or put aptly by Neflix, “a demonic Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can“.
Simon wooed these women with the pretence that he was this very rich guy who also worked for the government, booked expensive flights and hotel, and gave them the high-end treatment.
Once these women were spell-bound by his rich handsome face, Simon began his tactics of telling them that the government are after him, his bodyguard has been attacked, his bank accounts has been blocked and he cannot use his cards.
He begs the ladies to give him their credit card in return for cash, and gave them excuses when they ask for their money back. The ladies ended up in hundreds of thousands of credit card and loan debts, while Simon lived lavishly at their expense.
A GoFundMePage was opened as a result of the women’s predicament.
The three women knew him as Simon Leviev. However, they were not the only victims, many others including government authorities were also scammed mainly because he took up different names to change his identity.
Shimon Yehuda Hayut
Shimon Yehuda Hayut is Simon’s name by birth and what is displayed on his real passport. Born in Bnei Brak, he is the son of Yohanan Hayut, who was once the Chief Rabbi of El Al Airlines.
His father was questioned on suspicion of involvement with his son’s crimes in 2019.
1/ A thread on the Simon Leviev timeline. Details, details. 27th September 1990: Born as Shimon Yehuda Hayut into an ultra orthodox Jewish family and grows up in Bnei Brak, outside Tel Aviv. #tinderswindler #TheTindlerSwindler #simonleviev pic.twitter.com/8FOVXhradT
— Erlend Ofte Arntsen (@ErlendOfte) February 7, 2022
Mordechai Nisim Tapiro
Simon is known to have given his name as Mordechai to a woman he met on Tinder in 2015. He created a passport with the same name in 2014.
Simon Leviev
Shimon changed his name to Simon, passing himself off as the son of Israeli diamond billionaire, Lev Leviev – the owner of LDD Diamonds.
Lev is nicknamed ‘The King of Diamonds’ so Simon called himself, ‘The Prince of Diamonds’, despite having no links with the family.
During this time, he attempted to undergo surgery in Prague to change his nose, cheekbones, lips and chin but many plastic surgeons refused claiming only a crook would make such request.
Levy Avraham
Simon is said to have assumed this name to buy tickets to the Cayman Islands in 2018, using on his victims’ money, an unnamed German woman. This was after he had conned Cicilie, Pernilla and Ayleen.
David Sharon
Simon is said to have called himself David Sharon to escape his past.
Michael Biton
He also called himself Michael Biton, creating a passport in April 2018 under the name.
Frontline Health worker
According Israel’s Channel 12, Simon went to get his vaccination where he lives in his home city of Bnei Brak and was refused as he did not qualify.
He hung around the vaccination, and tagged along with a group medical workers, claiming to be a paramedic and succeed in getting a shot to which he posted on Instagram.
The name he used was never mentioned.
