‘Tinder Swindler’ Simon Leviev launches scam-proof dating app: ‘I’ve paid my debts’
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I → launch → debts
These are common risks in online dating that Simon Leviev said he can prevent with his soon-to-be released dating app, Safe Love.
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he → say → app
He knows how fraudsters commit those deceptions.
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fraudsters → know → deceptions
Leviev, who was born Shimon Yehuda Hayut, gained prominence as the “Tinder Swindler” because of his romance fraud schemes.
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who → bear → schemes
The 36-year-old made a lavish income extorting money from women he met online.
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he → make → women
In 2015 and 2019, he was convicted of fraud, theft and forgery charges in Israel and Finland, he confirmed to Fox News Digital in a video conference interview.
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he → convict → interview
He served time in Finland from September 2015 until March 2017, he said.
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he → serve → March
He was arrested in Israel in 2011 and 2017 for the same case.
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And in June 2019, he was extradited from Greece to Israel, where he was jailed until May 2020, he said.
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he → extradite → May
In Finland, Leviev was sentenced in 2015 to two years behind bars after authorities said he defrauded three women, according to The Times of Israel.
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he → sentence → Israel
He was convicted in 2019 of four charges of fraud and sentenced to 15 months in prison but was released after five months, the BBC reported.
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BBC → convict → months
Leviev now plans to use his expertise to reduce the risks involved in finding potential partner matches online, he said.
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he → plan → matches
He compares himself to famed fraudster Frank Abagnale Jr., convicted con man immortalized in the 2002 Steven Spielberg movie “Catch Me If You Can.”
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Abagnale committed check fraud, theft and forgery and later became a fraud-prevention specialist.
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Abagnale → commit → fraud
“The idea came from me being the Tinder Swindler,” Leviev said in his heavy Israeli accent.
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Leviev → come → accent
“They say I made the dating environment unsafe.
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environment → say → ?
So I thought, ‘All right. Let’s make it safe.’”
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He mostly splits time between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
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His expertise in the area of fraud makes him the perfect candidate to help others avoid being victims, he said.
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he → make → fraud
“I did use false passports.
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I did use false identity,” he said.
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he → use → identity
“I’ve been convicted for that.
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I → convict → that
I’ve paid my debts to society.
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I → pay → society
Obviously, things which I’m not proud of.
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But because of his unsavory past, he’s confident that he has the skills and knowledge of how to prevent the kinds of fraud he committed.
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he → ’ → fraud
“I know how fake passports look,” he said.
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he → know → ?
And maybe even “better than a passport controller in the airport, because I did pass hundreds or if not thousands of … fake passports.
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I → pass → passports
“No one ever questioned me once.
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one → question → me
I know I know how to challenge the system.
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I → know → system
Match gone wrong
Leviev’s new dating platform will have more rigid identification requirements than existing dating apps, he said.
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he → go → apps
To ensure a user’s online identity is genuine, the user will be required to upload a government identification card and take a selfie to match it.
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user → ensure → it
Any photos uploaded to a profile will not be allowed if they differ from that selfie by more than 15%, he said.
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he → upload → %
He wants to ensure that potential matches viewed online are the same — in appearance and identity –—as who shows up on a date.
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who → want → date
A safety feature planned for the Safe Love app is an SOS button that users can press if they’re feeling unsafe on a date.
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they → plan → date
The phone would immediately start recording audio and video.
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phone → start → audio
It would share the user’s location.
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And that would be shared with law enforcement authorities, Leviev said.
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Safe Love is in the late stages of the regulation phase it must pass before its release.
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“It could be a few days, could be a few weeks, but hopefully as soon as possible,” he said.
Giving love a bad name or love crimes
The Online Dating and Discovery Association (ODDA), a group that promotes safe online dating, has spoken out opposing Leviev’s plan for the app.
In a letter sent to Google and Apple, the organization urged the tech giants to ban the platform from their app stores.
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“We do not believe either app store wishes to be the platform that hosted a fraudster’s return to the very environment in which his crimes were committed,” ODDA wrote in the letter.
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…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
