Original subtitles

ANCHOR: 28-year-old Anna Sorokin,

a German con artist

who passed herself off as a wealthy heiress...

- Anna got a lot of satisfaction in turning the tables.

NARRATOR: The woman known as Anna Delvey

captured America's attention when it was revealed

that she was accused of swindling $275,000.

- This was someone who was younger and smarter

and savvier than they were,

and she took advantage of the system.

- Anna Delvey pulled off one of the greatest cons

in modern American history.

- She was able to successfully pull this off

for so long 'cause she just didn't give a fuck.

[dramatic music plays]

NARRATOR: In 1991,

Anna was born under the legal name Anna Sorokin

in Domodedovo, Russia,

a city known for its oil industry.

Her father was a truck driver who moved the family

to Eschweiler, Germany, where they lived

until Anna graduated high school.

SHAMSIAN: In high school, her friends described her

as someone who played friends

against each other, manipulated them.

- A lot of what I know of Anna

is what she told me in interviews.

She is not close to her parents,

didn't talk a lot about them.

Anna says they're very conservative.

She didn't consider herself to be conservative.

- Anna always loved fashion, she always loved art,

she always aspired to be part of that world.

♪ They said be careful, but I never play... ♪

SHAMSIAN: She went to Paris for an internship

at Purple magazine.

It's a really popular, renowned magazine

in the fashion and art world.

NARRATOR: It was Anna's first introduction

to a life she never wanted to leave.

And there was no turning back.

- Anna befriended artists,

people of means.

She sort of dipped her toes into this whole community

of people who worked in fashion

and PR for fashion companies.

- This is when she created the beginning

of the Anna Delvey persona.

♪

[dramatic music plays]

NARRATOR: After six months in Paris,

Anna Sorokin created an online persona,

filling her feed with photos of her new posh and fabulous life.

And...

her new name.

SPODEK: Anna Sorokin changed her name

to Anna Delvey because there's a sea

of Anna Sorokins out there,

and Anna Delvey, my client, wanted to be the one and only.

PALMER: When she's at Purple magazine, Anna's dreams

start to become reality.

When she's in Paris for Fashion Week,

she meets a lot of people, including Tommy Saleh.

NARRATOR: A promoter, Tommy Saleh,

was Anna's first big connection,

and she told him she was an oil heiress

working at Purple just to pass the time.

He invited her to New York Fashion Week,

and she jumped on it.

- She falls in love with New York

and she stays for Fashion Week.

And then she just never leaves.

NARRATOR: Anna worked out a deal with Purple

to transfer her internship.

It came with a work visa and a small check.

Her parents gave her some money,

and Anna was left to live out her American dream.

♪ Now it's me and you... ♪

- She was very quick to figure out that there was a scene

of people who were wealthy.

She ingratiated herself among people

in these socialite spaces.

She befriended Billy McFarland, for example,

of Fyre Festival notoriety.

Anna getting into Billy McFarland's circle

was her first entry point

into this upper-class New York society.

NARRATOR: McFarland had a members-only business

called Magnises, similar to the Soho House.

Its Facebook page boasted photos of a luxury property

that subscribers had exclusive access to.

SHAMSIAN: Anna would crash there, living among

all these people who were able to spend

hundreds, thousands of dollars.

And she ended up just living in this town house

for, like, four months.

NARRATOR: Anna studied Billy's ability

to make something out of nothing.

She realized that if she reinvented herself

as a powerful, rich socialite,

she could do what he did, only better.

SPODEK: Anna said she was

a multimillionaire, had a trust fund.

HAWK: I asked her one time what her dad did,

and she said he imported oil from Russia to Germany.

- She developed a persona and had the charisma

and the confidence to pull it off.

SHAMSIAN: But she didn't actually have

the resources to be a socialite,

so to do that, she had to run a scam.

♪ Thank you for your confidence ♪

♪ My ego made of compliments ♪

♪ I feel so accomplished ♪

♪ Feed off your incompetence ♪

♪

PALMER: She would go to a club

and she would meet some important people,

and they would introduce her to other important people.

And suddenly, she has this whole circle around her

of people who have kind of verified

her authenticity through themselves.

SPODEK: They all believed

that she was a German heiress, and they all wanted

to do business with her.

She basically turned the tables

on the whole industry.

They were all pursuing her.

NARRATOR: Anna Delvey had the world at her fingertips,

but at what cost?