Three European women who were featured in Netflix’s Tinder Swindler documentary have set up a GoFundMe in attempt to recoup some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars they claimed conman Simon Leviev had ruthlessly defrauded them out of. Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Charlotte claimed they fell victim to Leviev’s elaborate Ponzi scheme, in which he used Tinder to trick women into thinking he was the son of a billionaire diamond jeweler, treating his dates to private jet rides, caviar dinners, and stays at five-star hotels. After entering a relationship with the women, Leviev pretended to be in trouble, with access to his bank accounts cut off. He then asked the women to loan him extortionate amounts of cash through quick loans, credit cards, and even suggested they pawn their cars—under the false promise of repaying them through his alleged fortune. Fjellhøy was left in $250,000 in debt, Sjöholm in $140,000, and Charlotte in $34,000—loans they are all still paying off. Meanwhile, Leviev only served five months of a 15-month sentence in Israel, despite being accused of defrauding as much as $10 million from dozens of women around the world.
