The "Tinder Swindler’s" New Venture Sparks Industry Outrage: Dating Trade Group Urges Apple and Google to Ban App

LONDON / TEL AVIV — The global dating industry’s premier trade association has formally called upon tech giants Apple and Google to preemptively block a proposed dating application from Shimon Yehuda Hayut, the convicted Israeli con artist internationally infamous as the "Tinder Swindler."

Hayut, who is nearing his 36th birthday and inspired a blockbuster 2022 Netflix documentary bearing his moniker, has announced plans to launch a platform titled "Safe Love." According to Hayut, the app is designed to protect women from individuals like his former self. However, industry leaders, consumer advocates, and victims’ rights campaigners have reacted with profound skepticism and outright condemnation, labeling the proposed venture an insult to survivors of romance fraud and a direct threat to the safety of digital dating consumers.

The Online Dating and Discovery Association (ODDA), representing leading platforms in the sector, has taken the unprecedented step of urging application store gatekeepers to deny entry to any software associated with the convicted fraudster.

Main Facts: The Proposed Launch of "Safe Love" and the Industry Backlash

The core controversy centers on Hayut’s attempt to pivot from a notorious international criminal to a digital safety entrepreneur. Hayut plans to release "Safe Love," an application he claims will leverage his first-hand experience in deception to safeguard unsuspecting daters—specifically women—from romance scams.

The proposal has drawn sharp, immediate pushback from the ODDA. In an official statement provided to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), ODDA Chief Executive Simon Newman did not mince words regarding Hayut’s involvement in the digital matchmaking space.

"In our view, a convicted fraudster having any involvement in our industry seriously undermines the work our sector is doing to tackle fraud," Newman said. "It can only have negative repercussions for platforms and users alike. We believe it should not be allowed to happen, and that action is needed to prevent it."

Newman formally petitioned Apple and Google to evaluate the severe reputational and consumer-protection risks of hosting any application founded, operated, or fronted by a man with Hayut’s criminal history.

In recent media appearances across British and Israeli television—including an interview on ITV’s Morning Show—Hayut defended his new venture by arguing that his illicit past uniquely qualifies him to spot predators. With chilling candor, Hayut admitted to his history on morning television, stating: "Yes, I do know how to lie. I do know how to cheat. I do know how to manipulate."

Despite presenting himself as a reformed family man, father of two, and self-appointed mentor aiming to teach young men how to treat women with respect, the public reception has been overwhelmingly hostile. Critics argue that handing a megaphone and a commercial platform to an unrepentant fraudster makes a mockery of cybersecurity and consumer protection initiatives.

Chronology: From International Con Artist to Netflix Infamy

To understand the current outrage, one must examine the timeline of Shimon Yehuda Hayut’s criminal trajectory, which spans over a decade of aliases, international jurisdictions, and high-stakes financial manipulation.

Early Beginnings and Initial Convictions

Born the son of a rabbi, Hayut’s history of deception predates his global notoriety. Before adopting the persona that would capture the world’s attention, he accumulated multiple prior convictions for fraud under various aliases. Early in his criminal career, his methods involved check forgery and identity theft, setting the stage for more elaborate schemes.

The Reign of the "Tinder Swindler" (2017–2019)

Posing as "Simon Leviev"—the glamorous, fictionalized playboy heir to the real-life Russian-Israeli diamond billionaire Lev Leviev—Hayut utilized the dating app Tinder to target women across Scandinavia and Western Europe.

His modus operandi was systematic and psychological:

1. The Seduction: Hayut would lavish targets with luxurious first-class trips, expensive meals, and high-end gifts, projecting immense wealth and power.
2. The Manufactured Crisis: Once trust was established, he would claim that his enemies were tracking him and that his credit cards and bank accounts had to be frozen for security reasons.
3. The Financial Extraction: Pleading for emergency financial assistance, he convinced his victims to take out massive bank loans and open credit cards in their own names, handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.
4. The Ponzi Scheme: The funds extracted from one victim were subsequently used to finance the luxurious courtship of the next, creating a classic Ponzi-style romantic enterprise.

Investigative reports published by the Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang—spearheaded by journalists Natalie Hansen and Kristoffer Kumar, with assistance from ICIJ’s Israeli member Uri Blau—exposed the full scope of his operations. The reporting revealed that Hayut had conned at least six known women out of an estimated £7 million.

Extradition, Conviction, and Early Release (2019–2020)

As the net closed in, Hayut fled across Europe, utilizing forged passports. He was eventually captured in Greece in 2019 through a joint operation involving Interpol and local authorities, and subsequently extradited to Israel.

In late 2019, an Israeli court convicted Hayut of theft, fraud, and document forgery, sentencing him to 15 months in prison. Remarkably, due to pandemic-related early release policies aimed at reducing prison populations, Hayut served a mere five months before walking free in early 2020.

Global Notoriety via Netflix (2022)

In February 2022, Netflix released the true-crime documentary The Tinder Swindler, which brought Hayut’s predatory behavior into hundreds of millions of households worldwide. The documentary galvanized global awareness surrounding romance scams, turning Hayut into a universally recognized symbol of modern digital exploitation. Despite the exposure, Hayut capitalized on his newfound celebrity, briefly attempting a career as a cameo-style video greeting entrepreneur and maintaining active social media profiles.

Supporting Data: The Scale of Romance Fraud and Industry Vulnerabilities

The timing of Hayut’s "Safe Love" pitch coincides with a broader reckoning within the tech and dating industries regarding financial scams, romance fraud, and unregulated digital platforms.

According to data from consumer protection agencies worldwide, romance fraud—often referred to as "pig butchering" or confidence fraud—represents one of the fastest-growing categories of cybercrime. In the United States alone, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reported billions of dollars in losses attributable to romance scams over the past five years, with victims frequently suffering not only catastrophic financial ruin but severe psychological trauma.

Furthermore, investigative reporting by organizations like the ICIJ has repeatedly exposed how predatory networks and pay-per-action platforms exploit legal loopholes to monetize vulnerable users. Within this high-stakes ecosystem, industry trade bodies such as the ODDA have been forced to implement rigorous safety frameworks, AI-driven verification tools, and proactive moderation policies to restore public trust.

When a high-profile, convicted fraudster attempts to launch a consumer-facing safety app within the very industry he exploited, it exposes critical vulnerabilities in how app stores vet developers. Critics argue that allowing figures with documented histories of interpersonal violence and financial fraud to enter the market undermines the hundreds of millions of dollars legitimate tech companies spend annually on trust and safety infrastructure.

Official Responses: Condemnation from Experts and Advocates

The announcement of "Safe Love" has triggered an immediate and fierce outcry from anti-scam campaigners, victim advocates, and legal experts who view Hayut’s public rehabilitation tour as disingenuous and deeply harmful.

Becky Holmes, a recognized author and expert on dating scams who has extensively analyzed the mechanics of digital deception, launched a blistering public critique of both Hayut and the media outlets providing him with a platform.

In a widely shared statement on LinkedIn, Holmes expressed outrage that the victims of the "Tinder Swindler" are forced to continually witness their abuser’s public reinvention:

"It’s bad enough that his victims have been through hell without them having to see Leviev’s slimy, smug, remorseless face everywhere," Holmes wrote. "My hope is that anyone who sees his interviews and posts is reminded of the horrors of romance fraud and feels even more grateful for what campaigners against this crime do."

Holmes’ sentiments echo the broader consensus among victim support networks, which argue that giving airtime to unrepentant criminals normalizes abusive behavior and retraumatizes survivors.

Meanwhile, representatives for Apple and Google have faced mounting pressure from the ODDA to issue explicit policy clarifications regarding developer account eligibility for individuals with criminal records related to digital fraud. While neither tech giant has issued a formal public statement regarding "Safe Love" specifically, their respective app store guidelines explicitly prohibit applications that facilitate fraud, impersonation, or deceptive commercial practices.

Legal analysts suggest that the ODDA’s public letter places the onus squarely on the app store review teams to evaluate whether hosting Hayut’s software violates these foundational terms of service.

Implications: What This Means for the Future of Dating Apps and Consumer Trust

The standoff between the dating industry and Shimon Hayut carries profound implications for the digital safety landscape, raising vital questions about accountability, corporate responsibility, and the limits of rehabilitation in the digital age.

1. Heightened Scrutiny for App Store Gatekeepers

Apple and Google function as the primary gatekeepers of the mobile application economy. By calling on these corporations to take preventive action, the ODDA is shifting the burden of policing bad actors away from reactive enforcement and toward proactive vetting. If tech giants permit "Safe Love" to clear review, they risk validating a dangerous precedent: that individuals convicted of systemic consumer fraud can rebrand as safety experts without serving meaningful prison sentences or showing genuine remorse.

2. The Threat to Public Trust in Digital Safety Tools

For millions of online daters navigating a landscape increasingly fraught with artificial intelligence-generated catfishing, financial scams, and predatory behavior, trust is paramount. The introduction of an anti-fraud app fronted by a literal fraudster risks eroding whatever confidence remains in consumer-facing safety initiatives. Users may rightfully question the authenticity of self-proclaimed "safe" dating spaces if the industry and its gatekeepers fail to filter out bad-faith actors at the administrative level.

3. The Re-traumatization of Victims and the Ethics of Media Platforms

The episode also casts a harsh spotlight on the media ecosystem. Critics like Becky Holmes have sharply rebuked mainstream broadcasters for platforming convicted criminals under the guise of human-interest journalism. By treating individuals like Hayut as entertaining contrarians rather than dangerous predators, television networks and digital platforms inadvertently assist in rehabilitating public images built on the backs of victims.

Conclusion

As Shimon Hayut pushes forward with his plans to launch "Safe Love," the collective response from the global dating industry remains resolute. Supported by trade associations, consumer advocates, and cybersecurity experts, the digital matchmaking community has drawn a hard line in the sand. Whether Apple and Google heed the warning of the ODDA and lock out the "Tinder Swindler" will serve as a definitive litmus test for corporate accountability in the ongoing war against digital romance fraud.