Simon Leviev’s elaborate cons have provided Netflix with an even bigger score as The Tinder Swindler has risen through the ranks to become the streaming platform’s most-watched documentary ever. Within the first 28 days of its release on the streamer, it was watched for over 166 million hours.
Per reports from Deadline, the popular documentary film was watched by viewers for 45.8M hours in its four days, a number that rose to 64.7M the next three days.
The addictive and haunting series narrates the tale of an Israeli conman, Shimon Hayut, who posed as the fictional Simon Leviev, the son of a diamond mogul, and tricked women into giving him enormous amounts of money. He continued to deceive even more women by presenting them with lavish and glamorous gifts, before manipulating them into parting with huge sums of money and then proceeded to ghost them. A group of his victims eventually came together to put an end to his cons, and prevent other women from suffering the same fate they did.
The documentary proved to be a hit right off the bat, becoming the number one trending topic in several countries, and the first docuseries to top the weekly Netflix chart. Critics also lauded it for its smart and addictive storytelling.
The Tinder Swindler was released on Feb. 2, 2022, and depicted Hayut, as well as three of the victims he successfully defrauded, Cecile Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Charlotte. The documentary is directed by Felicity Morris, produced by Bernadette Higgins, and edited by Julian Hart, with Edgar Dubrovskiy and Jessica Jones handling the cinematography and the music respectively.