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Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler is déjà vu for romance scams victim in Hong Kong, who authored a book and podcast about the love cheats who conned her out of money
- ‘Online dating scams can happen to anyone,’ says Jules Hannaford, an Australian teacher in Hong Kong who was fooled twice by online con men she dated
- ‘These women were scarred by Simon Leviev’s behaviour,’ she says of The Tinder Swindler hoaxer. To avoid it happening to you, look for red flags, she advises
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Hong Kong teacher Jules Hannaford admits that watching The Tinder Swindler, which dropped on Netflix this month, stirs some uncomfortable memories.
The true-crime documentary follows Israeli con man Shimon Hayut, who posed as billionaire diamond trader Simon Leviev on the popular dating app. His Tinder profile was full of images showcasing his luxurious lifestyle: private jets, posh hotels, designer goods …
The true-crime documentary follows Israeli con man Shimon Hayut, who posed as billionaire diamond trader Simon Leviev on the popular dating app. His Tinder profile was full of images showcasing his luxurious lifestyle: private jets, posh hotels, designer goods …
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But the self-proclaimed “prince of diamonds” was in fact a fugitive from justice in several countries who seduced women and swindled them out of millions of dollars.
“Luckily I wasn’t scammed out of as much money as those women were,” says Hannaford.
Hannaford, who grew up on a farm in South Australia and works at an international school, has twice been a victim of online romance scams – once in 2006 by a man in the United States who abused her credit card after she fell for his financial sob stories and again in 2010 by “35-year-old British man Truman who worked in construction”.
In that scam, Hannaford lost a substantial amount of money.
The overriding emotion watching The Tinder Swindler, says Hannaford, was empathy for the women.
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