The Tinder Swindler

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.

Be careful who you fall for, the story of young women who have fallen in love with the son of a wealthy diamond trader, Simon Laviev, however all is not as it seems.

Originally I thought this was going to be a movie, the content and format came as a real surprise, I didn't get into it straight away, it all seemed a little wishy washy, however as it develops, and you learn the actual content, it becomes a great, shocking watch.

You may we'll be like me, and screaming at the screen, how on Earth could these women have fallen for his story, it is just baffling. You have to chuckle about the comments about Tinder being a place to find love, but this isn't the place for that conversation.

Very well made, it looks great, beautifully filmed, with such powerful interviews and insight.

9/10.

My question with all these women was, why didn't they say, "Ask your rich family for the money!"

My mother really did tell me to run the other direction if a guy ever asked to borrow money from me. Boy was she right! So this is my gift to all you women out there - don't lend any guys money.

So - these women did and this documentary shows how it happens and why and how to spot a swindler.

Too many reviewers call the women gold diggers. Stop it. If the roles were reversed, you'd jump on that plane as fast as a woman, so pot/kettle.

As one reviewer put it - it is disturbing (and it is) and wait until you see the ending. Holy crap.

There's lots here, as a woman, I can't understand. Maybe I've watched too many of these shows, but the "Hurry up, I need it now" is such a classic old school con. Especially after a month. Too many questions with answers that didn't exist or didn't make sense. Couldn't he just go to his family, for money and/or protection? And if he wasn't doing anything illegal, the police would have protected him. And the credit card statements would show what he was doing. I can see online things as they appear.

I do feel bad for the victimes, all of them, not just on the show. I know how the "be nice and help everyone" is sometimes ingrained in us.

Worst part of the show is the end. Five months in jail for 10 million dollar scams, that are still ongoing. Big deal.

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.