If you haven’t heard of the infamous Tinder Swindler, Simon Leviev, then I don’t know where you’ve been. The man has literally been plastered all over the news and social media, and for good reason too.
Simon was exposed by women on the popular dating app Tinder, for scamming women of large amounts of money – we’re talking thousands of dollars at a time.
Simon is a real manipulator and con-artist; he literally cons people for a living. He went about strategically asking the women for money, claiming that his life was in danger. We now know this was all a lie.
The dating world is tough, especially for these women who learned it the hard way. I mean we already have to deal with ghosting, love-bombing and many other issues when it comes to dating, and that is why I think it’s important to highlight some major red flags.
Major red flags that you should never ignore:
- Lending money – Yes, you’re in love, but you should never be foolish enough to lend your boyfriend – whom you just met I might add – a significant amount of money. First off, you don’t know this man well enough to know if he’ll pay you back. Second, don’t you think it’s kind of a weird for your boyfriend to be borrowing large amounts from you, especially if he claims to be so crazy wealthy?
- Active dating profile – If you’re dating someone, why would they still have an active dating account? I think this is very important especially if you guys, as a couple, have agreed to see each other exclusively.
- Lavish lifestyle – Who doesn’t want a lavish lifestyle? I mean I certainly do, but to go on a private jet with someone you barely know is not only ridiculous but so unsafe! (Yes one woman did this.) Be sure to do your research if you’ve only recently met. Simon was so smart. He claimed to have been part of the famous diamond company Leviev, a million-dollar diamond company. The company would have information on him and there should be pictures of the founders of the company, right?
- Moving too fast, too soon – Simon, after one month of dating, said he wanted to move in with one of the women. Is that not scary? You should first get to genuinely know someone. See them sad, upset, angry, and so on. Truly get to know your partner before planning to move into together.
Right now these women are in heaps of debt and that’s so heart-breaking and I really feel for them, however, there were many obvious and hard to ignore signs that they should have picked up on. Keep your eyes peeled!
So should you stay away from online dating, especially Tinder?
I really don’t think so. I mean this case was incredibly rare. Many people have found love online, including myself.
Yes, dating online is tough, finding love is even harder, but don’t give up. Be careful; keep your head together; and don’t fall for obvious scams.
You can watch the trending The Tinder Swindler documentary on Netflix if you haven’t already.
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If you enjoyed this, read here on why online dating isn’t for the faint-hearted.
Tell us: What red flags do you think shouldn’t be ignored in a relationship?