A Tinder Swindler survivor has launched a tool to fight the scams that upended her life.
Pernilla Sjöholm, who starred in Netflix’s hit documentary The Tinder Swindler, cofounded the platform — called IDfier — alongside computer scientist Suejb Memeti.
Released globally today, IDfier provides a human-to-human identity verification system. The platform promises a simple yet secure way to check who you’re interacting with.
Users verify themselves by first scanning their passport, driver’s license, or ID card with their phone camera. If the document has an NFC (near-field communication), IDfier will also scan the chip for additional security. The user then completes a quick head movement to prove they’re a real person — rather than a photo, video, or deepfake.
Once verified, they can send other people a request to do the same. Both of them can then choose which information to share, from their name and age to their contact number. All their data is encrypted and stored across disparate servers.
IDfier was built to blend this security with precision. According to the platform, the tech is 99.9% accurate in detecting real users and blocking impersonation attempts.
The team envisions the system securing endless online services, from e-commerce and email to social media and, of course, dating apps such as Tinder. Sjöholm (pronounced “Shuh-holm”) matched with conman Simon Leviev there in 2018.
Posing as the jet-setting son of a wealthy diamond merchant, Leviev cultivated a close friendship with Sjöholm. They took lavish trips together across Europe, enjoying extravagant experiences. He claimed they were funded by his family’s fortune, but they were actually financed by other women scammed.
Months after matching, Leviev said that “enemies” had placed life in danger — and he desperately needed cash.
Sjöholm, a former sales worker from Sweden, was ultimately swindled out of tens of thousands of euros, leaving her bankrupt.
TNW travelled to her hometown of Stockholm to hear her story — and her plans for IDfier.
From the Tinder Swindler to IDfier
On a sunny afternoon in a canal-side cafe, Sjöholm told TNW that she lost even more emotionally than she did financially.
“In my eyes, it shouldn’t just be viewed as a fraud or a scam; it should be viewed as emotional abuse towards a victim,” she said.
“When you experience fraud, you feel very embarrassed, you feel a lot of shame, and there’s so much hatred towards victims. I think people try to make themselves feel better by thinking that it doesn’t happen to smart people and wouldn’t happen to them. Actually, someone who says that is more likely to become a target.”
The Tinder Swindler brought her experience of fraud to a global audience. Released in 2022, the show became Netflix’s most-watched documentary of all time. Sjöholm used her new-found fame to advocate for fraud awareness and financial security.
She has since married and had twins, which led her to reflect on her line of work. Over time, she became frustrated by the limitations of solely supporting people after they had been scammed.
She also grew alarmed by the rapid advances in deepfakes. “We don’t even know if we’re interacting with a human today,” she said. “Before, it was more common to take someone else’s identity. Now, it’s more common to use synthetic identities. It’s so so easy today.”
As Sjöholm explored new proactive directions, she was contacted by Memeti, a senior lecturer at Sweden’s Blekinge Institute of Technology. He asked if she would be interested in a solution that was preventative rather than reactive.
Sjöholm believed the concept could have prevented her own entrapment. “What tool did I have to really check his identity? I didn’t have one,” she said. “I could have one now.”
The business case
Sjöholm agreed to join the company as co-founder and COO, with Memeti taking the role of CEO. The duo has also received financial support from VC firms Visive Invest and Almi Invest. The latter is ultimately owned by the Swedish government, giving IDfier a powerful endorsement.
To monetise the product, the platform has been made available as a subscription service on the App Store and Google Play. Prices start at $2 a month, with discounts for annual subscriptions and multi-user accounts, including a family plan starting at $7 a month for up to five people.
The price point aims to tap into a potentially enormous market. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) estimates that scams cost consumers over $1 trillion each year — a figure that exceeds the GDP of most nations. Most of them involve fake identities or information, yet there’s currently no universally accepted form of consumer digital ID verification.
“Fifty-to-sixty percent of scams involve fake identities,” Sjöholm said. “What if we could bring that down to 5%? We could have an enormous impact on the world economy.”
Identity fraud also has deep social impacts. Suicidal ideation is alarmingly common — and the perpetrators can be victims as well. Law enforcement agencies have discovered a growing number of people being trafficked and forced to commit identity fraud. “If we could target the scammers in this way and not make it such a profitable industry, we would literally save lives,” Sjöholm said.
Often, the targets of the scams are young people. In the long term, Sjöholm wants to give them IDfier for free.
The future of identity fraud prevention
Sjöholm’s plan partly stems from her experience giving talks in schools. She recalls one in which she asked the students how many of them interacted with strangers online. “Ninety-five percent of these kids raised their hands,” she said. “And you could just see the teacher’s face drop. It’s a really scary situation.”
Sjöholm is also campaigning for changes to EU laws. “I want it to be illegal to have a fake identity — to pretend to be someone else. Why is that even legal? If you create a different type of persona, that should be a separate criminal case itself.”
At TNW Conference on June 19, Sjöholm will share more of her views on the future of scams and fraud prevention in a talk with the CTO of Monzo and the head of AI at Rabobank.
The event brings her back to Amsterdam — the city where she first encountered the Tinder Swindler in person.
“It’s where I met my fraudster for the first time in real life,” she said. “For me to return with a new power… that makes it a special place to come back to.”
If you want to watch Pernilla’s talk or anything else on the packed agenda for TNW Conference, we have a special offer for you: use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the checkout to get 30% off your ticket.
