The Tinder Swindler: False Idols and Counterfeit Love
| 🎬 Title & Year | The Tinder Swindler (2022) |
| 🎥 Director | Felicity Morris |
| 👥 Featuring | Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, Ayleen Charlotte, Simon Leviev (Shimon Hayut) |
| 🕒 Genre / Runtime | Documentary, Crime · 114 mins |
| 🔞 MPA Rating | TV-MA |
| ✝️ Core Faith Themes | Discerning Satanic Deception in Vulnerability, The Illusion of Sudden Wealth, Warning Against Spiritual Fraud, The True One-Sided Love of the Cross |
| 📖 Key Scripture | John 10:10, 1 Timothy 6:9, John 8:44, Matthew 7:15, 1 John 4:10 |
Table of Contents
I just came back from watching the Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler. I will not criticize the three victims featured in this documentary or call them foolish. They, too, were just looking for love using a dating app, and because they truly gave their hearts to a man named Simon Leviev for a moment, it is incredibly sad to think about now, but the events have already happened, and it is an unavoidable reality.
However, watching this work, I deeply felt once again just how fragile human beings are and how vulnerable we are to the emotion of love. The sight of a swindler cunningly exploiting human deprivation and loneliness goes beyond a simple crime; it awakens a spiritual alertness. I would like to share with you the anger and pity I felt, along with the essence of this incident viewed through a Christian worldview, divided into five themes.
The False Love that Exploits Human Vulnerability
The most poignant realization I had while watching the documentary is that the act of touching and exploiting the weak parts of human beings is truly worse than trash. Love, money, relationships… Using these three things—which every human being longs for—as bait to manipulate and destroy people’s hearts is akin to spiritual murder.
Satan uses this exact same method when tempting us. The Bible warns in John 10:10,
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”
Swindlers accurately identify our weakest and most deprived areas (loneliness, the desire for recognition, financial anxiety) and approach us in the form of a perfect idol that can fulfill them. The victimized women were not fools. They simply wanted to be loved and dreamed of a movie-like romance. Evil ones poison that good and natural longing to manipulate brains. Everyone, no matter how lonely or exhausted you are, I earnestly hope you do not give your precious hearts away to others too easily.
No Life Changes Overnight: The Trap of Sudden Wealth and Illusions
Simon showed the victims private jets, 5-star hotels, and glamorous parties, turning them into protagonists in a fairytale. However, we must engrave deeply in our hearts that in this world, there is truly, absolutely no such thing as a life changing magically overnight.
Some might retort, “But there’s the lottery, isn’t there?” But look at the end of the people who won the first prize in the lottery with massive amounts of money. If you track their lives now, their lives might have changed glamorously for a brief moment, but we see far too many cases where their lives rapidly fall into the abyss due to broken families or bankruptcy.
Even when Satan tested Jesus in the wilderness, he tempted Him by offering “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor” in an instant. Just as the word says in 1 Timothy 6:9,
“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction,”
a glamorous-looking shortcut always leads to destruction.
A Pitiful Soul Devoured by Lies, Simon, and Brain Manipulation
Watching Simon, who manipulated the minds of such fragile humans, I also felt on the one hand that he is a truly pitiful person. Ultimately, he too appeared to be a sick patient who received deep emotional scars wandering the world alone after separating from his mother and family at a young age. Because he lied so much, he has now become a horrific spiritual monster who cannot even see his own life as a lie, deceiving himself and living as if that false life is real. This is so similar to the nature of Satan described in John 8:44: “When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
If you listen to his words, he claims, “I have no major legal fault because the women took out the bank loans themselves.” But he did not truly love them, and he took that money to squander it by gambling with other women. Although there was no physical violence, this is ultimately equivalent to perfectly brainwashing and manipulating the brains of women seeking love, and it is a heinous crime that destroys the free will God gave humanity.
Spiritual Fraud Beyond Money and Love: The Destructive Power When Religion is Added
Looking at this case, I felt that it is an overly similar situation to the ‘Justice for Mica’ (the pastor’s wife’s death) case that I recently posted as a documentary review on my blog. I believe that Mica, too, ultimately fell victim to the brain manipulation and gaslighting of a swindler pastor (her husband).
Imagine this for a moment. Even though Simon did not seduce them in the name of religion or faith, he destroyed people’s lives so cunningly and wickedly using only money and romance. But what if you added ‘religion’ and ‘faith’ to that? Simon’s victims were left with massive debts and suffered tremendous emotional trauma, but if a pastor or spiritual leader commits fraud and gaslights using faith as a weapon, it tears the victim’s ‘soul’ to shreds and destroys it.
We realize how painful Jesus’ warning is in Matthew 7:15:
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”
Because it causes even the faith toward God to collapse, it is impossible to even gauge how much more horrific and massive a wound this inflicts on the victim.
There is No ‘One-Sided Love’ in the World: Only Jesus Christ
As I mentioned once in the review of the pastor’s wife’s death, everyone, please hold onto your hearts strongly so that you do not collapse on your own. I will not discourage the thought of longing for love and wanting to live a cooler life itself.
Cecilie Fjellhøy, one of the victims, said at the end of her interview that “she will still use Tinder and will continue to look for love.” People might criticize her saying, “You went through all that and you’re still using a dating app? You are so foolish,” but I do not agree with those words. She did not give up hope in people even after that horrific incident, and if she meets a man through Tinder or elsewhere in the future, unlike in the past, she will go about finding love with a bit more suspicion, caution, and discernment. Exactly this.
In South Korea as well, there are far too many dating app scams and voice phishing crimes. Remember this. They touch our most vulnerable parts: money, love, and relationships. Therefore, everyone, you are absolutely not worthless people lacking love. As I mentioned in The Social Dilemma which I covered previously, absolutely do not compare your reality with the people living glamorously on SNS or Instagram. The more you compare, the more your self-esteem will only plummet before false idols. Their goal is always ‘money’ and ‘exploitation’ hidden inside the fake wrapper of saying ‘I love you.’
Beloved Christians, there is absolutely no such thing as a ‘one-sided love’ in this world. A love where one person unilaterally sacrifices and gives everything up does not exist anywhere in the world except for the one-sided love Jesus showed us on the cross. The love between parents, closest friends, and church community members is also true love that is maintained only when each other makes an effort and loves together. A relationship that demands one-sided devotion while gnawing away at your soul is not love, but fraud. 1 John 4:10 declares:
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Never forget that only the love of the cross is real.
Comparative Analysis: Simon’s Fake Romance vs. The Cross of Jesus Christ
| Analytical Category | Simon’s Fake Romance (Satan’s Deception) | The Cross of Jesus Christ (The True Gospel) |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | To steal from others and destroy the soul (John 10:10) | To give His own life to save the soul |
| Method | Stimulates deprivation and brainwashes with glamorous illusions and lies | Approaches with sincere sacrifice on a humble cross |
| What is Demanded | Demands one-sided sacrifice and debt (money) under the pretext of love | Forgives all debt (sin) without a price and grants freedom |
| Result | Betrayal, wounds, deep despair, and a destroyed life | Healing, restoration, and the grace of eternal life |
Key Takeaways & Faith Insights
- Vigilance Against Deception Exploiting Vulnerability: Swindlers and Satan disguise our inner voids—loneliness, emotional hunger, and financial anxiety—into glamorous idols. We must cultivate spiritual discernment grounded in the Word. (John 10:10)
- Discarding the Illusion of Sudden Wealth: There is no overnight shortcut to true life. Rather than comparing our reality with deceptive social media personas, we must embrace contentment and thanksgiving for God’s daily provision. (1 Timothy 6:9)
- The Lethal Threat of Spiritual Fraud: While romance scams extort money and emotions, religious gaslighting in the name of faith tears the soul itself to pieces. We must be spiritually sober against wolves in sheep’s clothing. (Matthew 7:15)
- The Only True One-Sided Love: Earthly relationships demand mutual respect, boundary-keeping, and shared care. Any bond demanding one-sided depletion is fraud; the only unconditional, one-sided devotion that saves is Jesus Christ on the cross. (1 John 4:10)
“If you believe in fairy tales, you are easy prey. True love does not demand your ruin; it pays the price for your redemption.”
The Tinder Swindler
Explore More Screen Devotions:
- 🎬 Movies: Explore Other Faith-Based Film Reflections
- 🎨 Animation: Spiritual Insights in Animated Films
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
