Have you seen the Netflix show, The Tinder Swindler? In this British documentary, you hear the story of several Finnish women who were victims of a con man named Simon Leviev, an Israeli man who legally changed his name from Shimon Hayut. He attracted women on Tinder by pretending to be a billionaire’s son . He was dating all the women at the same time without their knowing it, telling them he loved them as well as swindling them out of money with very convincing stories.
I won’t give you all the details in case you want to watch it. I will give away the ending though. He gets arrested and sentenced to 15 MONTHS of which he only served FIVE due to Covid! This is after swindling people out of millions of dollars. He got out of prison and went right back to conning and living the high life.
He had been arrested for crimes since he was only 18 years old. He went to prison in 2015 and 2019, but didn’t seem to learn his lesson. He is now selling business and real estate courses that I’m sure are perfectly legal.
He is still on Instagram ! https://www.instagram.com/simon.officialll1/?hl=en He claims the Netflix show was a lie.
This made me think about other con artists I’ve heard about and the light sentences they received after tons of work had gone into catching them. The punishment does not seem to fit the crime. The reason seems to be that the victim is blamed for the actions of the con man. And some people actually admire the ingenuity of the con!
I admit that the women in the Netflix show did seem extra gullible and possibly greedy. But there are other scams that men fall for, especially get-rich-quick investment scams. Cons also prey on the elderly and the poor.
Here is one lady who gave her entire retirement savings to a con man.
Here is a fraud targeting the elderly.
The problem is that even if they get caught, the sentence is so light that they go right back to their scams when they get out. The rewards outweigh the risks of getting caught and the punishment.
The Tinder Swindler was an interesting story, but the women did not get their money back and the swindler did not learn his lesson. Moral of the story: Beware people who look too good to be true and don’t expect the law to help you if you get taken.
What do you think? Should con artists get tougher sentences? Is it ‘their own fault’ when people get swindled? Are dating apps safe?
Blue Skies and Green Pastures 
Your questions are tough ones that would take some time to look into. How long sentences are, what mitigating factors might be considered both for the victim and the perpetrator, etc.
Who gives cash to someone they do not personally know!?
There is never an urgency with Him. Verify, honor God with our finances, trust His wisdom which He even gives to fools like me.
The bottom line comes down to my faith: Is Father in charge of what happens to my grandchildren? Would He allow a con artist to steal from me? Is He in charge of my finances? And if after all, I get conned, what does He want me to do after I get conned? How can I glorify Him when things go further south than Texas? 😄
❤️&🙏, c.a.
Good points. And I didn’t go into the problem that these women who got conned are leading extremely immoral lives.
I feel for the elderly that get conned and scammed because many of them do not understand a lot of modern things like the internet and the lies these cons use on the surface can seem so convincing especially when it comes packaged like social security or other things important to them. It seems more than one PSA has to be issued every year about such scams.
When it comes to women being conned by a man that continues to ask them for money especially if it is large sums which i am assuming it is then I don’t feel for them so much. One if he is suppose to be so wealthy then why is he asking them for their money. Two who does that? Who gives someone money like that? I know I wouldn’t that would set off alarm bells all over the place in my head. Heck it raises my hackles when I hear these word of faith preachers asking people for money all though they are millionaires. I believe sometimes people are willfully gullible because of greed, because they want that lifestyle, and they do not want to do it the hard way.
Should the cons face harsher penalties? Yes, they should but since it is considered white collar crime it won’t happen and I think they do blame most of the victims. I do not blame the elderly so much, but if you are a man or woman living an immoral life you might want to reconsider your lifestyle.
I agree. And technology makes it so easy these days to scam people, especially the elderly, such a through texts.
Wow, so sad. There is no one so vulnerable as a woman looking for love and money…it is easy to rope them in. Also the poor elderly, they want to have more money too and it leads to them being taken advantage of. So sad!!
My daughter is a CPA, and she’s been helping an elderly woman in her church who has been conned and hacked multiple times. It’s so sad that these people are trusting, gullible, and clueless about technology, and that there are those who are only too glad to take advantage. But someday they’ll meet God face to face, and they won’t be able to con Him.
I don’t know how anyone can cheat the elderly . 😤