A major pivot
Real talk: the plot thickens for Shimon Hayut—the man the world knows as the "Tinder Swindler." After spending years running romance fraud schemes that fleeced women out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the 36-year-old is now claiming he’s ready to make dating safer. He’s currently prepping a new platform called Safe Love, and lowkey, he’s serious about it.
Hayut, who was convicted of fraud, theft, and forgery in Israel and Finland, served multiple stints behind bars between 2011 and 2020. Now that he’s out, he’s trying to channel his experience into something else. He’s even comparing himself to Frank Abagnale Jr., the con man from Catch Me If You Can who later became a fraud-prevention expert. "The idea came from me being the Tinder Swindler," Hayut said. "They say I made the dating environment unsafe. So I thought, ‘All right. Let’s make it safe.’"
How the app works
Hayut claims his app will have super strict rules to keep users from being catfished. He plans to require a government ID and a selfie to verify your identity, and if your photos don't match that selfie by at least 85%, you’re out. The app is also slated to include an SOS button that, when triggered, will record audio and video while pinging the user's location to law enforcement.
The backlash
Not everyone is vibing with this idea. The Online Dating and Discovery Association (ODDA) is highkey pushing back, sending letters to Apple and Google to demand they ban the app from their stores. They’re basically saying it’s a massive L to let a convicted fraudster who exploited emotional vulnerabilities run a space built on trust. Hayut, however, is staying unbothered. "They won't be able to do that, and they won't succeed," he said. He knows he’s under a microscope—if there’s a bug in his app, he knows he’ll be the first one held accountable. "If something will go wrong, I cannot be saying, ‘Ah, we have a fault in our system.’ Automatically, I will be [considered] guilty as charged."
Why it matters
Whether you think he’s redeemed or just trying to pull another fast one, the controversy highlights the massive security gaps in modern dating apps. The tech world is now forced to grapple with the ethics of who gets to build the tools we use to find love.
