Simon Leviev, 'Tinder Swindler,' Launches Dating App Focused on Safety
The convicted fraudster claims his new platform, Safe Love, will prevent the types of scams he was known for.
Simon Leviev, the man behind the notorious "Tinder Swindler" romance scams, has announced the upcoming launch of his own dating app, Safe Love. Leviev, born Shimon Yehuda Hayut, stated that the app is designed to prevent the very deceptions and fraudulent activities he was convicted of committing. He believes his past experiences make him uniquely qualified to create a secure online dating environment.
Leviev, 36, was convicted of fraud, theft, and forgery charges in Israel and Finland. He served time in Finland from September 2015 to March 2017. In Israel, he was convicted of fraud in 2019 and sentenced to 15 months, though he was released after five months. He was extradited from Greece to Israel in June 2019 and jailed until May 2020.
"They say I made the dating environment unsafe. So I thought, ‘All right. Let’s make it safe,’" Leviev said in an interview. He compares his journey to that of Frank Abagnale Jr., the con man whose life was depicted in the movie "Catch Me If You Can," who later became a fraud-prevention specialist.
Safe Love will feature more rigorous identification verification than existing dating platforms. Users will be required to upload a government-issued ID and take a selfie for verification. Profile photos will undergo scrutiny to ensure they do not deviate significantly from the verified selfie. Leviev noted that he learned how to bypass such systems from his own past actions, including the use of false passports and identities.
A planned safety feature for the app is an SOS button. When pressed, it would immediately begin recording audio and video, and share the user's location with law enforcement authorities, according to Leviev.
The app is currently in the final stages of regulatory approval before its release. Leviev indicated that its launch could be a matter of days or weeks.
Despite Leviev's claims, the Online Dating and Discovery Association (ODDA), an industry group, has publicly opposed the app's development. In a letter to Google and Apple, the ODDA urged the tech companies to ban Safe Love from their app stores, arguing that hosting a platform created by a convicted romance fraud offender undermines the trust central to online dating and poses a real risk to users. Leviev dismissed these concerns, asserting that the ODDA is threatened by his app's potential superiority and that they will not succeed in blocking its release.
Leviev acknowledged his criminal past but emphasized his personal evolution, citing his role as a father to two young children. "Yes, on paper I’m a convicted criminal," he said. "But I’m not the same kid that I was [at] 19 years old. And we do change. People do change."