Anna Delvey: The SoHo Con Artist

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends! This week, Kristin tells Mogab the story of Anna Delvy - one of the greatest con artists of our generation, which is saying a lot since Millennials can claim both Billy McFarland from Fyre Fest and Elizabeth Holmes from Theranos. Everyone loves a good scam story. And this is definitely a good scam story. So good, in fact, that Shonda Rhimes is making a show with Netflix about Anna Delvy: the German heiress trying to open her Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good (or something like that...). She lives in New York's fanciest hotels, is at all the best parties, and loves to tip big and take lavish trips with her friends. But weird things keep happening: her credit cards keep getting declined, or she's having trouble tapping into her trust fund, so her friends start covering for her. Only, she's not a German heiress. And she doesn't actually have any money. So how did she manage to con all her friends Into funding this lifestyle she wanted so badly? I want to point people towards the National Center for Victims of Crime, who have a Financial Crime Resource Center. They wanted to provide a resource for victim-centered services in the area of financial fraud and so they produce a guide called Taking Action: An Advocate’s Guide to Assisting Victims of Financial Fraud This guide is designed to provide advocates with practical victim-centered resources to help navigate the various options available for reporting crimes, protecting other assets and preventing re-victimization. It also offers advice on how to assist with psychological and – where possible – financial recovery. Sources: “How Anna Delvy Tricked New York” by Jessica Presster, printed in New York Magazine “My Misadventures with the Magician of Manhattan” by Rachel Deloache Williams, printed in Vanity Fair “Who Is Anna Sorokin, a.k.a. Anna Delvey, the Alleged Soho Grifter?” by EJ Dickson for Rolling Stone Magazine “Anna Sorokin Was Just Sentenced for Grand Larceny and Theft. Here’s What's Next for the ‘Soho Grifter' by Mahita Gajanan “‘Anna Delvey’ Might Not Profit From Netflix Series on Her Life as a Fake Heiress” by Sharon Otterman of the New York Times. “Anna Delvey Didn’t Look Rich—Which Is Exactly Why She Seemed Like She Was” by Rachel Tashjian printed in Garage Anna Sorokin entry on Wikipedia Music by: pond5.com Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/truecrimecreepers) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices