The Tinder Swindler Got Swindled After Trying To Buy An Instagram Verification
Well well well, if it isn’t the grifter getting got at his own game. I know I shouldn’t laugh at someone else’s misery, but considering The Tinder Swindler’s victims are out millions of dollars, and the victim here is merely just The Tindler Swindler’s ego and a couple of thousand bucks, I’ll allow myself to laugh. The Tinder Swindler, aka Simon Leviev, aka Shimon Hayut, has finally found himself on the losing end of a scam, and this one is embarrassing. According to TMZ, The Tinder Swindler got conned while trying to buy blue-check Instagram verification badges for himself and his girlfriend.
After Netflix aired their doc The Tinder Swindler, which was about how Simon lured in Tinder dates and scammed the women out of money, he got banned from other dating apps, but he also landed an agent. The general population (and the diamond family who is suing him for identity theft) might consider him infamous, but Simon clearly believes he’s famous. As such, he needs everyone to know that he’s a somebody. And what better way than with an unearned blue check next to his name on social media? Unfortunately, Simon probably should have done his research first before writing a check to the first person who claimed they could get him that blue check. via TMZ:
Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ … Simon was hit up last Thursday by a verified female on Instagram. She claimed she’d help Simon and GF Kate Konlin get verified on the app through her BF – saying he worked at Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s tech company that owns IG.
The fake “Metamate” said the only way he could give him the blue check on his profile – as well as delete the fake accounts under his name – would be to offer up a big chunk of change … $6,664. The payments were sent via PayPal through 2 separate transactions – one for him and one for his GF.
Simon’s manager finally realized that something smelled fishy, and they reached out to someone who actually works at Meta. That person informed Simon’s manager that Meta doesn’t charge for verification. But by then, the alleged Insta-scammers had wiped their accounts clean, and there was no trace of them. As of right now, Simon’s Instagram account is back up with a whopping 18k followers and a blue verified checkmark. His girlfriend Kate Konlin (I cannot believe how perfect that last name is) has an active Instagram account, also with a shiny new blue verified checkmark. Both verifications are legit and were applied by Meta for zero dollars.
But how did one of the world’s foremost scammers get so easily scammed himself? According to TMZ’s sources, the Insta-scammers set up a FaceTime between Simon and the boyfriend who allegedly worked at Meta. Behind the boyfriend were people walking in and out of frame to make it appear as though the call was taking place in a busy office. That’s all it took, apparently. Good to know The Tinder Swindler got scammed by someone whose scam plan appears to have come from that scene in Home Alone where Kevin pretends his house is full of people by sticking a Michael Jordan cardboard cut-out on a train set and cruising it around his living room.
Pic: YouTube