He used the dating app Tinder to contact women as Simon Leviev, and tricked them into loaning him money that he never repaid. He would charm women with lavish gifts and take them to dinners on private jets using money he borrowed from other women he previously conned. He would later pretend he was being targeted by his "enemies", often sending the same messages and images to each woman, pretending that his bodyguard was attacked and asking his victims to help him financially; they would often take out bank loans and new credit cards in order to help.[4] He would then use the money gained through the deception to lure new victims, while essentially operating a Ponzi scheme.[4][5] Later, he would pretend to repay his victims by sending forged documents showing fake bank transfers[4] and then break off contact with the victims.[6]