"Tinder Swindler" Shimon Hayut has deleted his Instagram following the Netflix documentary that exposed his crimes to the world.
The series, which was released in January, details how Hayut scammed millions of dollars out of a group of women who, in turn, tracked him down.
Hayut, who changed his name to Simon Levie to better associate himself with a prominent Israeli businessman, used Tinder to trick women into loaning him money.
The Netflix doc has put the spotlight on Hayut, who gained more than 200,000 Instagram followers after the release of the expose. It is not known exactly when he deleted his Instagram account.
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In response, Hayut released a short statement promising to tell his side of the story. But then he disappeared.
"I will share my side of the story in the next few days when I have sorted out the best and most respectful way to tell it, both to the involved parties and myself," he wrote, adding: "Until then, please keep an open mind and heart."
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While we certainly don't want to spoil the documentary, which is currently number one on the chart, Hayut's case is a standout in the world of cons and catfishes.
Having previously served time for defrauding numerous women in Finland, Hayut squeezed more than $10 million from his victims. He would shower potential targets in gifts, all of which he paid for using money from other victims, before asking for a loan himself.
Hayut would often claim he was being threatened and used fake documents to assert he had repaid the loan. He was eventually caught in 2019 for travelling to Greece with a fake passport. After being deported back to Israel, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for theft and forgery charges dating back to 2012.
Hayut remains a wanted man in numerous countries on charges of fraud and forgery.
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