'Tinder Swindler' Con Artist Arrested in Georgia

Shimon Yehuda Hayut, the man widely known as the "Tinder Swindler," has been arrested again, this time in the country of Georgia. Hayut, who also used the alias Simon Leviev, was taken into custody upon his arrival at Batumi International Airport on Sunday, September 14, 2025. The arrest was made at the request of Interpol, though the specific country that issued the red notice for his arrest has not yet been publicly disclosed.
The 34-year-old Israeli national gained international infamy following the 2022 Netflix documentary, The Tinder Swindler, which chronicled his elaborate scams. Between 2017 and 2019, Hayut allegedly used the dating app Tinder to meet and manipulate women, posing as the son of billionaire diamond tycoon Lev Leviev. He would woo his victims with a lavish lifestyle, including private jets and bodyguards, before feigning a financial crisis and convincing them to "loan" him large sums of money, which he would never repay. The documentary detailed how he defrauded women in Norway, Finland, and Sweden of an estimated $10 million.
This is not the first time Hayut has faced legal trouble. He has a long history of fraud and has been convicted multiple times in different countries. In 2019, he was arrested in Greece and extradited to Israel, where he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for fraud, forgery, and theft. However, he was released after serving only five months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a move that drew widespread criticism from his alleged victims. Since the documentary's release, Hayut has publicly denied the allegations, calling the film a "made-up movie" and maintaining that he is a "legitimate businessman." Despite his claims, the Netflix documentary has brought his past actions to a global audience and seemingly led to this latest arrest.
The Georgian Interior Ministry confirmed the detention at Interpol's request, but did not provide any further details on the specific charges. Hayut's lawyers in Israel have stated that they are also unaware of the grounds for his arrest, noting that he had been "traveling freely around the world" up until this point. It remains unclear what the next steps will be, but the arrest marks another chapter in the saga of the man who has become a symbol of modern-day romance scams.
Source@BBC