From Simon Leviev to Anna Sorokin AKA Anna Delvey, scammers just seem to be proliferating – but thankfully, also getting exposed – now more than ever.

If you haven’t watched the series Inventing Anna, on Netflix then you definitely should. There’s so much to learn!

Some background: The Russian-born woman Anna Sorokin, moved to Germany with her family. When she got older she moved to New York, America, and claimed the name Anna Delvey. Anna claimed that she was a German heiress and that she was in line to inherit a large fortune. This was all made up though; one big fat lie.

Anna’s story is so fascinating because Anna only moved in the company of very wealthy and famous people. She went to the best restaurants, the best hotels, rode on private jets. She only wore designer brands and went travelling all across the globe to different fancy destinations. Anna was living the life – the life she claimed she worked so hard for.

The way in which Anna duped people out of their money is pure art; it’s scary. Exuding charm and confidence, and draped in finery, she’d ask her friends and the people she hung out with to foot the large bills that she raked up.  She’d promise to pay them back, only she never did. I mean how could she? She was broke.

Anna was exposed by an American journalist, Jessica Pressler, which resulted in the hit Netflix series. Both the article Pressler wrote, as well as the series on Anna are spellbinding and have much to teach us.

So what can we learn from Anna?

• Make sure the people you are friends with are authentic and who they say they are. Anna was ‘stinking rich’, so a bit of research on your part would surely have revealed the sources of this great wealth, and were it was located.
• Rich folks usually do not flaunt their wealth – they usually don’t feel the need to prove that they are rolling in it.
• When things don’t add up and you have a gut feeling, you better trust yourself as you most probably will be right.
• All lies are eventually brought to the surface – especially the kind of lies that Anna pulled off.
• Not everyone is your friend. Some people are just looking out for themselves and will drag you along for the ride; which could cost you your sanity and money, as some of Anna’s friends learnt.
• Just be yourself. Appreciate who you are and what you have. There’s no better feeling than being content.

Where is Anna now?

So Anna was arrested in 2017 and was released on good behaviour close to the end of her four-year sentence in 2021. After a few weeks of freedom, Anna was detained for overstaying her visa. She is currently in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in New York.

Scammers and confidence tricksters are everywhere and the not-so-obvious ones seem to have it all – except they don’t. The exposing of Anna has taught us to keep our eyes peeled and to ask questions of those we interact with. Read between the lines; it could save you in the future.

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Read more here on the Tinder Swindler.

Tell us: What do you think we can learn from the life of Anna Delvey? Have you encountered a scammer before?