Who is the Tinder Swindler? Here's how not to fall foul of dating scams this Valentine's Day

Simon Leviev is thought to have amassed around £7.4 million from his victims, all of which he found on the dating app, Tinder.

And with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, the programme is a timely reminder of how fraudsters can entice unsuspecting people into parting with their cash.

So, to help people looking for love stay safe and financially savvy when dating, the personal finance experts at Ocean Finance have shared their top tips for spotting and avoiding a dating scam.

Why do dating scams, unfortunately, work?

Helen Fox, Senior Content Producer at Ocean Finance said: "Dating scams can often be a slow burn, because the fraudster needs to build a rapport with you and earn your trust for the scam to stand its best chance of succeeding.

"When the time is right, the scammer will usually ask you to send them money, either as a bank transfer, gift card, or in the form of an expensive gift. Often, their request will be dressed up as an emergency to make you more likely to want to help – just like Simon Leviev did.

“Scammers prey on the perceived loneliness they assume those using dating sites feel. Their aim is to emotionally manipulate their victims into believing they have a genuine connection with the scammer, before taking their money or committing fraud using their personal details.”

Who is the Tinder Swindler, and how did he con women?

Con man Simon Leviev pretended to be a ‘Prince of Diamonds’ and used this to entice women on the dating app Tinder. He pretended to be the son of a billionaire diamond mogul, Lev Leviev, who has a net worth of $1.5 billion. By wearing designer clothes, driving flash supercars and travelling the world on private jets, he kept up the deception.

He would then quickly build trust and rapport with women on Tinder by showering them with affection, presents and trips on private planes – all of which was paid for by him. Then, after making women feel that he was close to them – either as a romantic link or a special friend – he would exploit them.

He would pretend that his life was under threat given that he worked in the diamond business. He would even go as far as sharing photos of both him and his bodyguard hurt with blood all over them.

The fraudster would then claim that his bank cards were being tracked and that he needed the women to ‘temporarily’ lend him some money, by giving him cash or sending him their credit card in the post.

This allowed him to have access to money without being followed (but in reality, his life was never in danger). Then when he felt that he had gotten as much money as possible out of the victim, he would move on to his next.

Over time, he managed to con women out of an estimated $10 million.

Six ways to protect yourself from a dating scam this Valentine’s Day

Dating sites can be a wonderful way to meet new people and find that special someone, however, it’s important to be aware of how to protect yourself from being scammed in the dating process:

Be careful when and how you share personal details

Of course, if things are going well with someone you’re talking to, you’ll want to share some personal information with them! However, be mindful of the details you share, and try to avoid sharing anything a fraudster could use to impersonate you, like your full name, full date of birth, or home address.

Also, refrain from sharing your contact details until it’s serious as they could harass you.

For example, Cecilie Fjellhøy shared her mother’s phone number with Simon Leviev as she travelled back and forth to Oslo, however, her mother ended up being harassed when Cecile said she would no longer be sending Simon money.

Never send money to someone you’re talking to

As Leviev has shown, scammers are adept at spinning elaborate yet believable stories to convince you that sending them money is not only OK, but that it’s a great idea. The same goes for requests to receive money into your account for them. This is a very peculiar thing to ask of someone, no matter how well you know them, and can be a sign that something dodgy is going on.

Keep your conversations on the dating site

Fraudsters and scammers are likely to want to take your conversation “offline” as soon as possible. Dating sites keep records of messages that are exchanged between their users (as should be explained in any dating site’s Privacy Policy), and these could be used as evidence to locate, identify and prosecute a scammer.

Whether you suspect someone may be a scammer or not, keeping your conversation within the dating site’s chat facilities, at least initially, is a good idea.

Do a reverse image search of your match’s profile picture

Carrying out a reverse image search on your match’s profile pictures may seem like an extreme step, but it can be a very useful way to identify someone using a fake profile. The practice of using pictures that aren’t really of you, known as catfishing, can be extremely harmful, whether the catfish intends to scam you or not.

When you do a reverse image search, you should find that the only results it returns are for other profiles belonging to the person you’re speaking to – their social media profiles, for example. If you find you get results that appear to show the image belongs to somebody else, though, then this could be a sign that you’re speaking to somebody who is using a fake profile. This may be a sign to cut off contact with them.

Be realistic with the speed of your relationship

If they seem to fall for you hard and fast, then this could be another sign that it is likely to be a scam. Perhaps saying they’ve “never felt like this before”, give you a pet name early on, or discuss your life together married and with children, despite never meeting or only meeting a handful of times. This is often a sign of emotional abuse in which a person uses proclamations of love to win someone's trust and affection.

They don't have a digital footprint

A quick and easy way to check that you're not speaking to a catfish is to check out their other social media profiles. The average number of Facebook friends someone has is 338 so if they have less than this, it's slightly suspicious. However, to check that this is not just a personal choice to keep their social media reach small, you should analyse the interactions that their 'friends' have with their profile. Do their friends have multiple profile photos that are updated regularly? This is a sign that their page is realistic. If their account is open to the public, have they been tagged in posts and photos, or have had people post on their wall? These are also positive signs.

How to report a dating scam

Most dating sites allow you to report users who have created fake profiles, are behaving abusively, or who attempt to scam you.

Doing this if and when you come across someone you suspect to be a scammer helps the dating sites to close down fraudulent accounts and spot patterns of behaviour to prevent them from being created in the future.

If you’ve lost money to any type of scam, or think your personal details may have been stolen and abused, then you can contact Action Fraud, who treat all reports of fraud and cybercrime in confidence. You may also be able to get some or all of your money back – read our article on this to find out how