‘The Tinder Swindler conned us – now we struggle with trust'

Simon Leviev seduced and swindled young women and is wanted in several countries – but his victims are still fighting for justice

- LUCY CLARKE-BILLINGS

Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler tells of Israeli conman Simon Leviev, who used the dating app to contact women who he then persuaded to “lend” him money to fuel his lavish lifestyle. But his crimes had devastating consequences. Norwegian Cecilie Fjellhøy, 34, who lives in London, lost more than £200,000 to Leviev, while Pernilla Sjöholm, 35, of Stockholm, Sweden, lost over £60,000. And because of interest rates, their debt is rising.

In 2019, Leviev served five months of a 15-month jail sentence for unrelated fraud charges and he is now free. In an exclusive chat, the two women reflect on life since the documentary – which clocked 45.8 million hours viewed in its first week – and their fight to see the fraudster back behind bars.

‘He sent me death threats – I’m scared I’ll never find peace’

I’ve been reflecting a lot on how I feel about relationships. I’m dating, but I haven’t had a long-term or deep relationship since it happened. Everything Simon did has harmed the way I’m dating and perhaps I’m scared of opening up. I have baggage now. I have healed but I still think there’s a long way to go.

There’s shame attached to stories like mine and I don’t want anyone who’s been a victim to feel ashamed.

Since our story broke, I’ve been contacted by people who almost got defrauded by Simon. I’ve had messages saying, “I met him in Amsterdam… but we only went on a couple of dates and that was it – he never asked me for money.“ I think, “Oh, great for you!”

The truth is, he met so many people and picked the ones he knew would help him out when he was pretending to be in need.