It is always a culture of Kenyans to create humour out of anything that grabs their attention on social media, and this time round it is a documentary series on Netflix, ‘The Tinder Swindler’.
This is the story of an internet con artist who is out to fraud those who seek for love online, but this time it is the usual unusual as a group of women fall victims of an online scammer named Simon Leviev.
The victims endure financial damage from Simon who pretend to be a billionaire and a potential heir to a diamond company.
Simon deceivingly tells his new lover he is in a fix and asks for money from her promising to refund the money.
The women fall for it as anybody else could do if a ‘billionaire’ asks for money and promises to refund.
“When I first talked with Simon, immediately we had a bond….He was smart and funny and very impulsive. I shared my whole heart with him. Then he asked me if I wanted to travel with him on a private jet,” women narrate in the story.
The two hour story continues to reveal how Simon continued to deceive ladies that his life was in danger and so many of them fell for it.
Kenyans went online to narrate about their personal experiences relatable to the show that has now attracted viewership online with over 18,000 tweets within 24 hours.
“Madame wa Kenya please choreeni this Tinder Swindler story. Please hamnanga kakitu,the little you have is taken by pastors in form of tithes and prayer-requests. Watch the show for entertainment,” wrote Cyprian Nyakundi on Twitter.
“I met a guy just like the Tinder Swindler once. Lots of flash and then one day some sob story about his credit card and how he needed a short term loan. Told him I’d love to help him out but my religious beliefs were against that and asked him to read 1 Timothy 5:8,” wrote @MissCiku.
Sarah Njambi,a Facebook user narrated how she was conned sh150,00 by a guy se met online and claimed to be working with a certain County Government only to realize later that he was a cab driver.
A new discussion is now developing on the financial roles of both gender and the safety of online dating just days after the Tinder Swindler was banned from all the dating apps.