These Shows & Movies Like Inventing Anna Offer Even More Scammer Stories

Netflix’s Inventing Anna tells the true story of convicted scammer Anna Sorokin, who posed as a German heiress under the alias Anna Delvey and defrauded banks, hotels, and her own friends out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Based on a May 2018 New York Magazine article titled “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People,” the series unravels Sorokin’s grifter tale through the eyes of a journalist named Vivian, a character based on Jessica Pressler, the original story’s writer. Offering a slightly fictionalized firsthand account of the all-too-real crimes, the Shondaland-produced series may leave you craving more content about scammers and thievery.

“You’re building a portrait of a real person, which is just very different than when I’m telling a story,” Shonda Rhimes recently told Shondaland Digital of creating a series based on true events. “I deconstructed what it was to be a journalist and dealt in through that direction.”

Thanks to the rise of podcasts like Serial and ripped-from-the-headlines documentaries including Making a Murderer and Tiger King, Hollywood has produced a wide array of true-crime projects over the last decade. From Netflix’s look at what really went down at 2017’s fraudulent Fyre Festival to USA Network’s Dirty John series about a manipulative and deceitful husband, here are seven TV shows and films you should watch after Inventing Anna.

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Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened

This 2019 Netflix documentary offers the backstory on the epically failed luxury Fyre Festival held by con artist Billy McFarland (who was friends with Sorokin) and rapper Ja Rule in 2017. After boasting high-end villas, gourmet meals, and appearances from Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid, the Bahamas-held event instead provided guests with cheese sandwiches, FEMA tents, and no celebrities. Co-produced by Jerry Media, the actual company that organized Fyre’s social media promotion, the Emmy-nominated documentary was met with critical praise upon release. But if you’re looking for a more well-rounded account of the disastrous events, complete with a McFarland interview, watch Hulu’s Fyre Fraud in addition.

I Care a Lot

Starring Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) in its leading role, I Care a Lot is an unconventional scammer tale about a court-appointed conservator named Marla Grayson. The satirical thriller shows Grayson taking advantage of the vulnerable elderly population by convincing legal officials they can’t take care of themselves in order to seize their assets. But she eventually gets outsmarted by a victim’s child, a secret crime lord, which complicates the character’s life in this Golden Globe-winning film.

Dirty John

Based on Christopher Goffard’s podcast of the same name, Season 1 of Dirty John stars Eric Bana as real-life con man John Meehan, who manipulates women into romantic relationships before turning abusive. Connie Britton appears as Debra Newell, a successful interior designer looking for love who falls into Meehan’s trap in the Golden Globe-nominated series. Following the success of Season 1, Dirty John was renewed for a standalone Season 2 focused on convicted murderer Betty Broderick, played by Amanda Peet.

White Collar

If Sorokin used her skills differently, she could’ve ended up like Matt Bomer’s Neal Caffrey, a one-time successful fraudster who forayed his talents into a career as a criminal informant for the FBI. White Collar ran for six seasons from 2009 to 2014, exploring Caffrey’s unusual relationship with his fellow agents, played by Tim DeKay, Marsha Thomason, and Hilarie Burton, among other notable actors.

The Tinder Swindler

Released around the same time as Inventing Anna, this 2022 Netflix documentary follows convicted scammer Simon Leviev (real name Shimon Hayut), who posed as the son of a diamond mogul to attract women on Tinder. Similar to Sorokin, Leviev tricked people into sending him money with no plans to repay them, wining and dining his dates without a dime of his own. But instead of trying to start a business, he was merely keeping his lavish lifestyle afloat. While he’s since served time in prison and allegedly been banned from Tinder, Leviev recently signed with a talent manager and plans to pursue an entertainment career.

Dirty Money

Executive produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, this Netflix docuseries explores a different scandalous crime involving money in each hour-long episode. From big bank money laundering to cases of illegal gold mining and Donald Trump’s shady business tactics, you’ll learn about each real-life event through birds-eye footage and firsthand interviews. With two seasons released so far, Dirty Money currently holds a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Bling Ring

Focused on crimes far more straightforward than Sorokin’s, this Sofia Coppola-directed 2012 film follows a group of fame-obsessed Hollywood teenagers who robbed the homes of celebrities including Paris Hilton, Megan Fox, and Orlando Bloom in the late 2000s. Adapted from Nancy Jo Sales’ 2010 Vanity Fair article “The Suspect Wore Louboutins,” the film features Emma Watson as Nicki Moore, a character based on Pretty Wild star Alexis Haines (née Neiers), who notably called out Sales for allegedly lying about her courtroom footwear. Remind you of another fraudster who’s trial attire was highly publicized?