Der Tinder-Schwindler

As "The Tinder Swindler" (2022 release from the UK; 114 min.) opens, we are introduced to Cecilie, a 29 yr. Norwegian living in London who has been on the Tinder dating app for 7 years. She LOVES Tinder. One day, she right-swipes on the profile of a certain Simon LeViev, a guy from Israel who embodies the "life style of the rich and famous", and before you know it, literally within days, Cecilie and Simon are tight, super tight. At this point we are 10 min into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the directing debut of UK documentary producer Felicia Morris. Here she brings us the story of, as the movie's title implies, how a slick guy uses the Tinder dating app to prey on women for money. He is not the first guy to do this, and surely also not the last guy. What makes this documentary so surprisingly entertaining is that the 3 victims who bring their story (Cecilie, Swedish woman Pernilla, and Dutch woman Ayleen) turn out to be master story tellers. Indeed, much of the movie is simply letting them talk, albeit backed up by (i) their iPhone communications which all were stored for posterity, and (ii) scene re-enactments. I typically am put off by scene re-enactments but for whatever reason I wasn't here. Add a layer of slick and pure eye-candy photography (Oslo!, London!, Stockholm! Amsterdam!, Prague!, Mykonos! It's like a James Bond movie), and the end result is quite tasty. Kudos to the three ladies for stepping forward and sharing their story. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have been like to live through this. As for the Tinder swindler himself, may he get what he deserves.

"The Tinder Swindler" premiered on Netflix this past week. If you are a fan of true crime documentaries, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

I watched in disbelief. I know that there are swindlers and schemers out there. What amazed me was that the first woman that was interviewed agreed to fly on the perpetrator's private jet within hours of meeting him. She slept with him the same night. Subsequently, their relationship is mainly through calls and texts, and she believes that she is in a relationship. I believe if she had exercised some discretion, she wouldn't have been swindled from hundreds of thousands of dollars. Was she so quick to throw caution to the wind simply because he seemed like he had lots of money? Of course it's sad that people are being duped this way, but I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for these women.

Listen... I always feel bad for people that get scammed but man... some of these women... they kinda got lucky all he did was stealing "their" money

The very first woman decides to "go on a trip to Bulgaria" with a guy she met for coffee... that day... for the first time...

That could've gone SO much worse... and no it's not "hindsight is 20/20". Pretty sure everybody's parents told their kids at some point not to get in a car with strangers... well how's that any different really? Oh he's rich? I guess we can forego logic then...

I honestly was worried that she would end up as a sex slave or dead in a ditch with her kidneys missing

Hate to be that guy but these girls got lucky... it could've been so much worse.

My heart goes out to the young women who were used by this swindler. Losing money through fraud is hard enough, but the man broke their hearts. Also, because he was a professional thief, the fear of being more victimized will never leave them.

Conmen have always been with us, but never in history has it been so easy for them to find their marks. They don't need to find a Doris Duke or Kim Kardashian. With the internet providing all the background they need on potential victims and dating applications proving a pond of lonely victims, they just have to pull the same con again and again.

This film does a great job of showing who the victims are, who the conman is, and how the con works. It underscores the complication of trying to prosecute the criminals across the world, and how police are hampered by language, law, and the intimacy of the relationships. It shows that the conman has the upper hand, and will keep doing it again and again.

Please, look behind the profiles of people you meet on social media. Romcoms are not real. There is no Prince Charming, and you aren't Cinderella. Do a background check, and, if he asks for money, run (don't walk) in the opposite direction. Do not lend money.

And, again, a conman is a sociopath. And a conman who gets his own Netflix show is a conman who is really good at it.

This show is less "shocking" than "predictable." Dogs bark. Conmen steal.

The documentary does a nice job of putting together the timeline and puzzling together the swindler's path of action with his victims. They could have made an effort though to add some police expert on whether the key elements of the frauds are the same as for other con artists as some general advice. What was definitely missing was a deeper look into the tinder profile of the victims and what they had in common. The swindler must have been looking for a certain type of women.

I am applauding the three women for going public. It can't have been easy for them. At least they made it harder for him to defraud more people, unfortunately not impossible as it seems. Fingers crossed that the women can bring their financial problems in order.