Tinder Swindler’s victims launch GoFundMe page to get money back

Victims of the Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev have launched a GoFundMe page in a bid to get their money back after he stole $A1.1 million.

Victims of the Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev have launched a GoFundMe page in a bid to get their money back after he conned them out of £600,000 ($A1.1 million).

The conman cheated a string of women out of huge sums of cash while pretending to be a billionaire diamond merchant who travelled the globe.

Now three of his brave victims have launched the fundraiser to help them claw their way out of the mounting debt they have been left with, The Sun reports.

Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm and Ayleen Charlotte shared their horror stories of swiping right on Leviev for the hit Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler.

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Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev enjoyed a luxury lifestyle paid for by his victims – and they want it back. Picture: Instagram.

They were each left penniless after the fraudster duped them into handing over huge amounts of cash after pretending he was in danger.

Cruel Leviev convinced the unsuspecting victims to send him their life savings and to take out huge credit card loans to help him.

After the explosive documentary sparked a wave of sympathy for the women, the trio have now teamed up again in a bid to fix their finances.

In a video shared on Instagram announcing their mission, user experience designer Cecilie thanked viewers for their support and future contributions.

Cecilie Fjellhøy announced she and the other victims in the Netflix doc have launched a GoFundMe. Picture: YouTube/ABC News

She told her 75,500 Instagram followers: “So, the girls today – Pernilla, Ayleen and myself – have decided after careful consideration to open up a GoFundMe, an official one, where we are trying to get some funds for all of us.

“We know that there’s a lot of other things people might want to help others with, but if you want to support us, thank you so much.”

Sympathetic watchers of the show have so far donated more than £25,600 ($A35,800) of the £600,000 ($A1.1 million) target, just 24 hours after it was created.

The description reads: “You’re probably here because you’ve heard about our story, and we appreciate you taking the time to search and find this page.

“The past few days have been a whirlwind, and we three (Ayleen, Pernilla and Cecilie) have been completely shocked and floored by the flood of compassion and support from everyone.

“The sheer love is more than we ever expected, and we appreciate you all so much,” it continued.

“After careful consideration, and many chats, we have decided to start this GoFundMe fundraiser.

“So many people reached out to us asking if we had one, and it hadn’t occurred to us to make one prior to this. However, we’ve spotted plenty of fakes, which makes us uneasy. We don’t want more people getting defrauded.

“We realise there are a thousand other worthy causes to donate to, and remain forever grateful if you choose to donate to this one. All we want are our lives back.”

Pernilla Sjöholm was also duped into believing the conman was a wealthy diamond trader. Picture: YouTube/Netflix.

Web of lies

Leviev enjoyed a lavish lifestyle funded by love struck women, who he showered with gifts before deploying his cunning plan.

Victims believed he was the son of Russian-Israeli gem tycoon Lev Leviev, dubbed The King of Diamonds, but in fact they are not related.

Once he had victims under his spell, the documentary claimed he would pretend he was in danger, or that powerful enemies had frozen his bank accounts.

In all, he is said to have swindled a whopping £7.4 million ($A14 million) from a string of women with his web of lies.

Cecilie said she ended up in a psychiatric ward after he conned her out of £185,000 ($A351,200) in a matter of weeks.

Consumed by heartbreak, she even said she had thought about crashing her car into a truck, explaining: “I felt like my life was over and I didn’t want to go on.”

Another victim, Swedish business owner Pernilla Sjöholm, had just split from her fiance when she fell for the fraudster.

She parted with significant amounts of cash, and only found out when she was contacted by journalists investigating him.

He later threatened her, saying: “If you double cross me, you will pay for the rest of your life.”

She responded: “I am paying for it.”

Ayleen Charlotte fell for Leviev's charms before realising he was a serial scammer. Picture: YouTube/Netflix

Tinder ban

A third woman, Ayleen Charlotte, said she learned from a newspaper article that her boyfriend of 14 months was scamming women all over Europe.

She turned the tables, pretending to support him while trying to recoup some of the money she had lost.

She suggested Leviev let her sell some of his designer clothes for a quick cash fix and quickly earned thousands of pounds.

Ayleen helped police track him down to Greece, where he was arrested trying to board a flight using a fake passport.

Leviev was eventually extradited to Israel where he was given a 15 month sentence for crimes committed a decade ago.

It emerged he had also served two years in jail in Finland for similar dating frauds.

Interpol are reportedly ready to arrest him if he ever steps foot outside his home country.

Savage Leviev has been banned from Tinder in the hopes he won’t exploit any other vulnerable women searching for love on the app.

But he is said to be dating an Israeli model called Polina, while still flaunting his jet set lifestyle online while his victims are left broke.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission