‘Simon is a stupid man with an empty soul’

PERNILLA SJÖHOLM SAYS…

I never started this because I wanted people to feel sorry for me. I want to highlight what’s happened to so many people and ask, “Why hasn’t this criminal been charged?” I’ve seen people online posting memes about us and Simon, like “All my enemies are after me – send me money!” – and I get mixed emotions. I can laugh about some parts of the story because you have to. I won’t let him steal our humour after stealing so much, but it can feel trashy.

We faced a big backlash in 2019 when we first told our story, so we knew what could happen with the documentary. We were like, hit us with a bus if you want, we’re not going to stop fighting because we might be able to help someone. But of course it’s scary to share. I still can’t watch some parts of the documentary – I haven’t seen it in full. I hide behind my hands because some parts are just too much.

And as for relationships, I can meet people… but I have a lot of trust issues. If someone does something nice towards me, I become suspicious and think there’s an evil agenda.

I’m glad we’ve started a movement and I hope in the future the police and banks will be more understanding of how much this can emotionally impact a victim, not just financially. Perhaps someone working for a creditor, who’s answering the phone, will understand the trauma of the caller. So many suicides are connected to instances of fraud.

I’d love to start doing lectures about these types of matters. I really want to fight to make a positive change in the world. And I want to see Simon in jail. He’s not a real person, so I’d have nothing to say to him. Even if I did, it wouldn’t affect him because he has no empathy whatsoever. He’s not capable of that emotion. He doesn’t have any friends or family. He’s just an empty soul.

It’s interesting that after swindling all this money, he spent it on bulls**t. Within two to three weeks of this hitting the news he was homeless. I thought, “How stupid can you be? Why didn’t you put 10% in the bank for a rainy day?” He might be a sophisticated con, but he’s a stupid man.

Watch The Tinder Swindler on Netflix now