Well here’s a first, I think – a spin-off from a true-crime documentary starring the original victim as she goes about her new life as an avenging angel. Cecilie Fjellhøy fell victim to Simon Leviev, who would become known to the masses as the Tinder Swindler via a 2022 Netflix documentary of the same name. She lent $200,000 to a man she met online and considered her boyfriend, who appeared to be (and she did her due Google diligence) a billionaire member of the Leviev Israeli diamond dynasty. In fact, his real name was Shimon Hayut and his apparent wealth came from a string of women he had previously dated and defrauded. The film was nominated for five Emmys, is said to be Netflix’s most watched documentary, and the title has since become a byword for online scammers who practise manipulative and emotionally abusive “romance fraud”.
So many women (and a few men) got in touch with Fjellhøy to tell similar stories of their suffering at the hands of other seemingly loving men (and a few women), who then drain them of their resources and disappear, that she has become a crusader on their behalf.
