Have you watched the Netflix documentary 'The Tinder Swindler'? It's scary, but it turns out that Simon Leviev's fraud case through a dating application is not the first.
This is a reminder that we must be extra careful when meeting new people, especially acquaintances from the virtual world. Make sure you've done background checking on the person you've just matched with.
Below are cases of scams abusing dating app platforms.
1. Simon Leviev, Claims to be 'Prince of Diamonds'
Shimon Hayut, this Israeli man claimed to be the son of a diamond businessman Lev Leviev. Of course this is fake. However , he has managed to cheat with an estimated nominal value of USD 10 million .
Through the Tinder application, Simon Leviev gets to know potential victims by providing a fairly convincing profile. The victim is then invited to travel abroad with the fake wealth he got from deceiving other victims. Shimon Hayut then made a documentary on Netflix entitled 'The Tinder Swindler'.
2. Richard Dexter, England's Tinder Swindler
Richard Dexter looks a lot like Simon Leviev. He robbed the victim of up to £141,500. In contrast to Simon Leviev, Richard Dexter has served a prison sentence of 4.5 years.
Dexter also confessed his actions, he admitted that he regretted it when he was in court.
"I am so, so sorry that I think about it every day, from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. I can't justify myself or what I did," Dexter told the court.
3. Lost Rp. 5.8 M in Love
Sophia (not her real name) told her story to the BBC Asian Network in the UK. This woman admitted that she was the victim of a 'love scam' man named 'Aaron'.
He is bombarded with false hopes such as a plan to buy a house together until Sophia sends a large amount of money to Aaron. In all, Sophia admitted to having sent around £300,000 to the man.
4. Indonesian Women Cheated Rp 15.8 M
In 2020, IE from Jakarta met her date who was a Caucasian man. At first everything went smoothly, after a while the man took the IE treasure slowly. The white man managed to convince IE and little by little he started sending money to be transferred.
The total? Around Rp. 15.8 billion. He also began to realize and feel cheated since the man disappeared and was difficult to contact. IE also reported what happened to the police. The Head of Public Relations of the Polda Metro Jaya, Kombes Pol Yusri Yunus said the IE case was not just a fraud, but there was also a criminal act of money laundering (TPPU).
"The case of fraud and money laundering offenses that occurred last April from a report by someone (a woman from Jakarta), the loss was more than Rp. 15 billion," said Head of Public Relations of the Polda Metro Jaya, Kombes Pol Yusri Yunus at Polda Metro Jaya, as quoted by Antara.