The Tinder Swindler

The first 30 minutes of this documentary was more than enough, but I stayed with it til the end in order to write this review. I feel sorry for those women swindled, but HOW can one not see that there is something wrong with this guy and situation from the first story of "enemies after me" and "I need money".

If it seems too good to be true, it IS too good to be true.

The delusion of "love" after only a couple of luxury dates is at its core the blind allure of a windfall life of riches, jet-set luxury, lavish lifestyle, and financial security.

Like all Ponzi scams, getting-rich-quickly is the bait used to scam people, whether it's investments or the possibility of finding love with a rich "prince"...but like the Tina Turner song, "what's love got to do with it".

It's an outrageous over-the-top example of scamming, and one hopes this will give women pause before jumping into too-good-to-be-true scenarios, (especially off dating sites), and learn to head for the exit as soon as obvious red flags pop up.

The sad truth is it probably won't make enough of a dent to prevent this type of thing from happening again...the desire for a rich lifestyle is always going to bait some people into bad scenarios via denial - "it's a tale as old as time". 😑

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.

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.

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.

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.