“Werewolf Girl” and “Tinder Swindler”: the most daring scammers

For a long time, the high-profile story of Barbora Skrlova did not leave the pages of Czech newspapers. This is a 33-year-old scammer who for many years ingratiated herself with various families under the guise of a child – due to a rare genetic disease, Barbora stopped growing, so she looked like a minor. The woman pretended to be children, got into foster families and did horrors there.

Based on the adventures of an unusual swindler, a psychological thriller was even shot in Hollywood. And this is not the only case when the story of scammers has inspired screenwriters to create films. We tell about the loudest and craziest stories of modern scammers in the material REN TV.

“The Werewolf Girl”: the story of Barbora Skrlova

Pretending to be 12-year-old Anichka, Barbora Skrlova infiltrated the family of Clara Mauerova, who is suffering from a mental illness. Together they began to attend a sect where cannibalism and violence were promoted. In the end, she was exposed, after which she moved to Denmark, and then to Norway.

“She went to an orphanage and pretended to be a boy, changing her hair, gaining weight, wearing baggy clothes. Another foster family adopted her”– said lawyer Anastasia Grebenyuk.

Barbora pretended to be a teenager Adam and for several months successfully fooled a married couple, teachers and even employees of supervisory authorities, and soon ran away.

Photos of the missing “Adam” have been posted all over Norway. During the search, police officers established the real identity of the criminal, detained her and extradited her to the Czech Republic. There, Barbora was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

However, five years later, the fraudster was released due to serious health problems. After the release, traces of Barbora are lost, but, given her track record, she could well understand the mistakes of the past and ingratiate herself with the new family.

Based on the adventures of an unusual swindler, a psychological thriller was even shot in Hollywood.

“Swindler from Tinder”: how “Lovelace” divorced women for $ 10 million

The world community was also stirred up by the story of the Israeli swindler Simon Leviev. The man rose to fame after Netflix released the documentary “The Tinder Swindler”, dedicated to the exposure of an Israeli.

The scammer’s real name is Shimon Hayut. He communicated with women from different countries, pretending to be the son of a rich man, and bred for large sums of money. The tricks were the same – Simon filmed a video, which depicted supposedly wounded, and said that he was in trouble and he needed to borrow money from his beloved. He sent the same videos to the victims.

“I know of at least three names that he used throughout his life. His real name, the second, which he rarely used, and the name Simon Leviev,” – said in an interview with REN TV Israeli detective Uri Blau.

Fraudulently, a swindler-womanizer got 10 million dollars, which he spent on dates with other ladies and a luxurious life. VG contributors Natalie Remo Hansen and Kristoffer Kumar conducted a journalistic investigation and found out that “Simon” was always in touch, wrote love messages, sent flowers and constantly fueled his image. The most famous of his victims are Cecilia Fjelhoy, Pernilla Sjoholm and Eileen Charlotte.

“It was a real fairy tale. They went to super-expensive restaurants, flew in a private jet. We were also surprised by the technique of Simon Leviev’s approach, how he treated Cecilia Simon, how kind he was to her. And from the dialogue it was clear why Cecilia fell in love. And then we realized that such a love can not be true”, the journalists said.

However, a girl named Eileen was not so simple – she was able to punish the gigolo by selling his branded items left with her. Simon, according to her, threatened her after that.

It is worth noting that not only women from Tinder, but also men became victims of the Israeli scammer. So, Rabbi Maimon Badush from New York almost fell into the bait of a swindler who pretended to be a friend.

In 2019, “Levaev” was charged with crimes in Israel and was sentenced to 15 months in prison for fraud.

After the release of the film “The Tinder Swindler”, the man returned to the social networks, which were temporarily blocked, and stated that now he is not a scammer.

“If I’m really a scammer, why should I film? I should have been arrested right away – even on the set. It’s time for the ladies to stop lying!” – says the scammer.

Anna Sorokina: “a rich heiress from Germany”

The whole Netflix series was also inspired by the high-profile story of the famous scammer with Russian roots, Anna Sorokina (Delvi), who deceived the American elite.

Anna was born in Domodedovo near Moscow in 1991. In 2007, her family moved to the German city of Eschweiler. Nine years later, Sorokin arrived in New York and quickly entered the local fashionable circle.

The girl presented herself as a rich “German heiress” Anna Delvi – she said that she would inherit 60 million euros and even showed the relevant “documents”. Anna demonstrated her rich life in detail on social networks. According to her American friends, she behaved in such a way that no one could even think that she was not who she claims to be.

Always dressed to the nines, Sorokina appeared at parties in brands such as Alexander Wang, Supreme and Celine, inspired confidence not only in stars and wealthy people, but also in investors, entrepreneurs and banks.

Anna allowed friends to pay for herself at parties, restaurants, and even trips, pledging to return the money later or accepting such gestures as a gift. She constantly took out loans and overdrafts, presented fake documents, and spent the money on luxurious outfits.

The rich life of the “heiress” stopped when huge debts were revealed: the girl owed 30 thousand dollars to the hotel, and her loans totaled about 275 thousand dollars.

The swindler was arrested in 2017, and in 2019 the court sentenced her to prison for embezzlement of more than 200 thousand dollars (more than 12 million rubles) through financial fraud. Sorokina served four years in prison, and in February 2021 she was released for good behavior.

Based on the story of the fraudster, Netflix released the series Inventing Anna, paying the girl $320,000 (more than 20 million rubles) for the rights to her story.

How “Anne de Rothschild” hunted Trump

Another scammer “Anna”, a native of Ukraine, became famous for ingratiating herself with the confidence of former US President Donald Trump and starting a real hunt for him. The 33-year-old woman declared her belonging to the Rothschild dynasty by grossly forging documents.

The real name of the scammer is Inna Yaschishina. She decided to become “Anne de Rothschild” for the simple reason that the representative of a wealthy dynasty practically does not show up at the get-togethers of the American rich and most of the time she is mainly engaged in science.

The swindler spoke multiple languages, wore designer clothes, a Rolex watch, and drove a $170,000 black Mercedes-Benz SUV. She told her wealthy friends about projects to build a high-rise hotel in Monaco, luxury housing in Emerald Bay in the Bahamas, and a Formula 1 race track in Miami.

Her fraudulent activity began with the Children’s Hearts for Mercy charity foundation. Yashchishina called for donating money to poor families, but in fact she appropriated it for herself. When she could no longer manage to hide it, complaints fell upon the woman.

After that, Inna changed her name and tactics, and then went on the hunt for the former American president. “Anne de Rothschild” ingratiated herself by playing golf with Donald Trump and the senators on the Mar-a-Lago estate.

Now an investigation is underway against the Ukrainian woman.

Elizabeth Holmes: “Rising Star of Silicon Valley”

Another crazy story is connected with the name of the American businesswoman Elizabeth Holmes. The girl was named the rising star of Silicon Valley, and Time magazine included her in the list of 100 most influential people in the world. In fact, everything turned out not so beautiful.

19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes came to Silicon Valley with her startup Theranos in 2003. The project promised to revolutionize the world of medicine and allow hundreds of diseases to be detected based on the analysis of just a couple of drops.

Charisma, charm and the gift of persuasion allowed the entrepreneur to found Theranos in just a few years and make it one of the most successful in the United States. During the first year, investors invested more than $90 million in it. At its peak, Theranos was valued at $9 billion.

American celebrities were on the board of directors of Theranos: two former secretaries of state – George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, former head of the US Department of Defense William Perry. Investors in the company included publisher and businessman Rupert Murdoch and billionaire Betsy Devos.

Theranos got into trouble after a 2015 investigation by The Wall Street Journal. The revealing article showed the world that the technology does not work, the analyzes were carried out on the equipment of competitors, and the startup itself and the entire company turned out to be a “soap bubble”.

In January 2022, a jury in San Jose, California found Elizabeth Holmes guilty of fraud and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

After the verdict was passed, the criminal hugged her parents and in tears asked for forgiveness from the victims of her organization.

“Looking back, I see so many things that I would have done differently if I had the opportunity. I tried to fulfill my dream too quickly,” Holmes said.