Ben Schaffer, the host of the television program "This Morning", was praised for his firm and fearless confrontation with Simon Leviev, the notorious Tinder scammer. Leviev, whose real name is Shimon Hayut, was the subject of a popular Netflix documentary in 2022.
Exposing Scamming Tactics
The documentary examined allegations from women who claimed Leviev introduced himself as a wealthy diamond heir and then encouraged them to send him money. In the show, Leviev talked about his plans to "change his ways" and launch a dating app called "Safe Love".
Schaffer responded to Leviev saying: "Simon! Describing your story as 'beautiful' is truly disrespectful. There is nothing beautiful about this story, and the women who have complained about you have endured a lot of pain and suffering." Schaffer firmly stated that using the term "beautiful" in this context is inappropriate.
Leviev's Claims and Schaffer's Reactions
Leviev then explained about his new app and said he was aware of the "flaws" in existing dating platforms. Schaffer sharply asked him: "Are you admitting that you know how to circumvent previous apps?" Leviev replied that he had learned to "lie", "cheat", and "manipulate" and referred to traveling with a fake passport.
In response to these statements, Schaffer said: "I have to be honest, Simon, I’m really sorry. You say you don’t take pride in what you’ve done, but it really seems like you do." He continued that Leviev seems to view these actions as his achievements and instead of saying he wants to change his ways, he is planning to launch another business.
Schaffer also added: "People watching this show today might think that launching a dating app by you is truly disrespectful. You are known as someone who is not trustworthy at all."
During this exchange, a user on social media wrote: "Yes, Ben Schaffer, you are the man. You did an amazing job and confronted the Tinder scammer." Leviev, who allegedly scammed around £7.6 million from several women, was arrested at Batumi airport last September at Interpol's request but was released without any conditions after two months when Germany withdrew its extradition request.
Although Leviev has not been convicted of the allegations made in the Netflix documentary, he has been convicted in the past for crimes related to fraud, theft, and forgery and has experienced prison sentences.
