The Tinder Swindler got scammed trying to buy an Instagram blue check verification
Can a scammer ever truly be scammed? Hilariously, yes! And very easily too. As if the Tinder Swindler’s recent legal troubles aren’t enough, he’s now been bilked to the tune of $6,000. Pennies compared to what he got from his victims, but still comeuppance.
Appropriately, this happened on another social media app: Instagram. Desperate to capitalize on his newfound notoriety, Simon fell for it when a random woman with a verified Instagram account reached out and offered to help him and his girlfriend get their accounts verified. She said her boyfriend worked at Meta, which was how they could supposedly help Simon get that elusive blue check, and got the money off him within days.
The tables have turned on ‘Tinder Swindler’ Simon Leviev … he was bamboozled himself in an Instagram scam.
Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ … Simon was hit up last Thursday by a verified female on Instagram. She claimed she’d help Simon and GF Kate Konlin get verified on the app through her BF — saying he worked at Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s tech company that owns IG.
The alleged swindlers went to great lengths to pull this off … Simon Facetimed the BF, who was in a busy office — appearing like he was at Meta, with employees walking around behind him.
The fake “Metamate” said the only way he could give him the blue check on his profile — as well as delete the fake accounts under his name — would be to offer up a big chunk of change … $6,664. The payments were sent via PayPal through 2 separate transactions — one for him and one for his GF.
Shortly after, Simon’s manager found the deal suspicious and reached out to an actual team member at Meta, who told them they don’t charge for verifications. Before anyone could call out the swindlers, they completely scrubbed themselves from the Internet — including removal of their IG accounts … letting the swindlers walk away with the cash…
Simon did get verified on Instagram Tuesday afternoon — by legit means, of course — after his manager reached out to Meta to get it done.
So what should we call them? The Ignoble Instagrammers? Funny that Simon didn’t even do the bare minimum of research on how to get verified and it was his manager that flagged it. It’s like he used all his energy on conning those women and now he’s done and ready to coast in infamy. It’s so telling that he and his manager still prioritized getting him verified as this was happening.
For someone who’s pulled such elaborate cons himself, Simon should be completely embarrassed that he was so easily scammed by these likely rookies. A DM and FaceTime from an office was seriously all it took? That’s barely an afternoon of effort on their part! Some light work to pick up a little bit of cash and disappear. Hopefully he’ll continue to face consequences, no matter how small.
Note by Celebitchy: I could not find this alleged Instagram account from Simon that’s “verified.” TMZ didn’t link it and the account he was previously using does not have a blue check. I suspect that Simon and his manager are lying to TMZ and that they only applied for verification and are still waiting to hear back.
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