Hong Kong teacher Jules Hannaford admits that watching The Tinder Swindler, which dropped on Netflix this month, stirs some uncomfortable memories. The true-crime documentary follows Israeli con man Shimon Hayut, who posed as billionaire diamond trader Simon Leviev on the popular dating app. His Tinder profile was full of images showcasing his luxurious lifestyle: private jets, posh hotels, designer goods … But the self-proclaimed “prince of diamonds” was in fact a fugitive from justice in several countries who seduced women and swindled them out of millions of dollars. “Luckily I wasn’t scammed out of as much money as those women were,” says Hannaford. Hannaford, who grew up on a farm in South Australia and works at an international school, has twice been a victim of online romance scams – once in 2006 by a man in the United States who abused her credit card after she fell for his financial sob stories and again in 2010 by “35-year-old British man Truman who worked in construction”. In that scam, Hannaford lost a substantial amount of money. ‘Love scammers’ cut sweet talk, milk victims with get-rich-quick deals The overriding emotion watching The Tinder Swindler, says Hannaford, was empathy for the women. “Leviev was an incredibly cunning and professional scammer and these women were understandably seduced by his perceived wealth, charming persona and promises of love,” she says. “Online dating scams can happen to anyone and I felt sorry that these women lost so much money and were so emotionally scarred by Leviev’s abhorrent behaviour.” Like all three women featured in the documentary, Hannaford had also met her scammers. “Many people caught in online dating scams don’t meet their scammers in person. It is a reminder of the physical danger that I put myself in by actually going to meet my scammer, Truman,” she says. She later learned from police he was a career criminal with more than 20 aliases and a rap sheet dating back to the 1990s. Like the women in the documentary, Hannaford also shared her experience as a way to warn others of the potential dangers of online dating. In 2018, she released her memoir, Fool Me Twice. Her story, along with details about the psychology of a scammer, can also be heard in an eight-episode true-crime podcast of the same name which has racked up almost 500,000 downloads. “Sharing my story was healing and cathartic, but the best part was having a positive impact on others,” she says. While being a scam victim has made her warier of strangers and more aware of personal safety, it has also empowered her, she adds. In Hong Kong, the number of online romance scams has soared. The latest police figures show a total of 1,659 cases reported with combined losses of HK$599.7 million (US$77 million) in 2021 compared with 905 cases and losses of HK$212.6 million the previous year. Trust your gut instincts, as they are usually correct. And never ever lend anyone any money; either in person or online Jules Hannaford, victim of romance scams Covid-19 is a driving factor ; people who are experiencing feelings of isolation and loneliness spend more time online. The number of online romance scams reported in the city was 596 in 2018 and 594 in 2019, according to police records. Police suspect many cases go unreported. A 2020 survey by global bank HSBC found 80 per cent of Hongkongers had been the target of one or more of the six most common types of fraud in the city: digital payment, romance and job scams, identity theft, official impersonations, and bogus calls. Romance scams, it found, were responsible for the highest amount of financial losses, with victims being swindled of an average of more than HK$4,000 each. Scammers launder HK$29 billion from victims through Hong Kong accounts It’s not just Hong Kong that’s seeing a surge in cases. According to Action Fraud, Britain’s reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, £92 million was lost to romance fraud between November 2020 and October 2021, with an increase of 2,000 cases year on year. A day before the release of The Tinder Swindler , Tinder published a checklist titled “Romance Scams: How to Protect Yourself Online” that urged users to be aware of such scams. “These criminals are professionals – in the US, romance scams netted more than US$300 million in 2020 because they appear authentic, engaging and affectionate – they may even have a real Instagram account,” said Tinder, which has users in 190 countries and, according to the site, has been downloaded more than 430 million times. “This all might seem innocent, but there are some telltale signs that something nefarious is lurking,” Tinder said, and provided a list of some signs as well as advice such as to trust your gut, check the photos on a user’s profile and, above all, not send money online. Hannaford says it’s helpful to know how to spot a scammer online. “Red flags include using two names, having pictures that look like a model, being in a job where they move around a lot such as a pilot or an engineer, using the word ‘dear’ when they chat to you and, most commonly, refusing to FaceTime with you,” she says, adding it’s best to date someone close to where you live. “Trust your gut instincts, as they are usually correct. And never ever lend anyone any money, either in person or online.” As for Leviev, he and his known aliases have been removed from Tinder.