Before we start, I have to give the spoiler alert. If you haven’t watched this heart beating documentary on Netflix, you might as well go right now and check it out.. Watching Frida
The documentary features three women from different places in Europe that have one thing in common. As it turned out, they all have dated a guy that goes by the name Simon Leviev, at least the one he presented since it is highly possible that it is fake. This is a conman who abused the kind hearts of many women in order to get money from them. Thanks to the amazing journalism skills of people who wrote and connected him to these women and thanks to all of the shared stories, he eventually got exposed.
The first lady shares her experience with him. He would show off his lavish lifestyle and success (that he got from other women). Spending money in the beginning on her, taking her on a private jet while also showing affection, interest and love. That would be his mantra for all of the new beginnings and relationships. After he gains the trust of the lady, all of a sudden there is an “emergency”, giving her proof that he and his bodyguard are in danger. After some time, he asks for enormous amounts of money for the help after never returning to the lady. Now you may ask, why would she give him a total of 250,000 dollars? When you find out someone you love is in danger, the first answer would be to help out no matter what. For better or worse as he promised. Unfortunately, in the end that all turned out to be a lie and she was left with a 250,000 debt. The second victim of his behavior was not intimately attached but rather a friendship. Nevertheless, the story goes in a similar way. They would have a lovely time together and after that it goes again : danger, help, money. This time for 30,000 dollars. The third person was in a relationship with him for 14 months and for that time, he took 140,000 dollars from her. And who knows how many other women there were. The good thing is, that someone heard about their stories and figured out that this same guy has been doing this for quite some time. The third lady in the end, played a very smart move on him. Since the articles started gaining attention and people started recognizing him, he stopped receiving financial goods. He asked for help, and the lady, knowing that he wore all the designer clothes, sold them on ebay and in that way compensated at least a bit of money that she had previously lost.
Now, is this con man cruel ? No doubt. Did he take advantage of people that truly cared for him ? Yup. Did he get criminally charged for his wrongdoings ? Nope. This is a big lesson for everyone out there to be cautious about their money and that most of the time social media can portray one person when in real life they are the complete opposite.
