[imagesource: The Independent]

Being swindled in the name of love is a double whammy.

That’s a lesson Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjoholm, and Ayleen Charlotte had to learn the hard way, and now the world is getting familiarised with their story.

Obligatory warning about minor spoilers to follow…

The Tinder Swindler is Netflix’s latest smash hit, and the three women at the centre of the tale are also having their moment in the limelight.

Simon Leviev, or Shimon Hayut, is less keen to appear in public and has disappeared off social media.

The exact sum of money each woman lost to the swindler is unknown, but one estimate puts it at £185 000, £103 000, and £25 000 for Cecilie, Pernilla, and Ayleen respectively.

I would have thought Netflix could step up to the plate to help out. Instead, the women have taken to crowdfunding platform GoFundMe.

The page launched three days ago and the women wrote:

You’re probably here because you’ve heard about our story, and we appreciate you taking the time to search and find this page.

The past few days have been a whirlwind, and we three (Ayleen, Pernilla and Cecilie) have been completely shocked and floored by the flood of compassion and support from everyone. The sheer love is more than we ever expected, and we appreciate you all so much

After careful consideration, and many chats, we have decided to start this GoFundMe fundraiser. So many people reached out to us asking if we had one, and it hadn’t occurred to us to make one prior to this. However, we’ve spotted plenty of fakes, which makes us uneasy. We don’t want more people getting defrauded.

We realise there are a thousand other worthy causes to donate to, and remain forever grateful if you choose to donate to this one. All we want are our lives back.

To confirm its authenticity Cecilie filmed this short clip:

At the time of writing, the women had raised just shy of £50 000 and donations continue, ranging from as little as £5 through to thousands of pounds.

The goal amount is £600 000 which I assume will more than cover the interest they have accrued on those debts over the past few years.

Leviev spoke often of his enemies coming after him. In South Africa, that would likely elicit less sympathy than he might have expected:

The Tinder Swindler: “my enemies are trying to kill me. Send money”

South African women: “Ag shame”

— Babytjie (@Micylaaa) February 8, 2022

[source:gofundme]