She's the truck driver's daughter who posed as a German heiress and conned New York socialites into bankrolling her scam.
“Anna Delvey”, 28, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, hired private jets, stayed in the best hotels, bought designer clothes and handed out generous $100 dollar tips.
She was the living embodiment of the “fake it 'til you make it” philosophy and for more than four years she made it big – partying with the Big Apple's arty crowd while fleecing banks, fashionistas, friends out of more than $275,000.
But then the credit cards stopped working and her brazen designer deception unravelled in spectacular style.
Sorokin, who was born in Russia but grew up in Germany, was arrested in October 2017 and charged with grand larceny and theft of services.
And to the shock of the Manhattan elite who'd adopted her, the generous gifter was exposed as a “grifter”, the US term for a swindler.
Last week, following a month-long trial that gripped America, Sorokin was convicted on eight counts. She will be sentenced on May 9 and faces up to 15 years in jail and deportation to Germany.
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But such is the fascination with her story that Sorokin has already netted a Netflix deal for her life story.
TV producer Shonda Rhimes, creator of Scandal and Grey's Anatomy - is developing what is set to be a hit series – with rumours of Jennifer Lawrence in the lead. Sorokin, however, has told a friends she'd prefer Margot Robbie.
HBO is also working on the story, which exploded online in 2018 when a former pal wrote an article for Vanity Fair revealing how she'd scammed her out of $62,000.
So how did the fashion magazine intern spin such an elaborate and lucrative web of lies, or what prosecutor Cyrus Vance called “a lengthy masquerade”?
Born in Russia in 1991 she moved to Germany at the age of 16 with her trucker dad who later opened a heating business.
She dropped out of college and moved to Paris to work on a magazine, supported by her parents who paid the rent.
But then she headed to New York - “seduced by glamour and glitz” and determined to use the illusion of wealth to open doors.
Sorokin passed herself off as an heiress worth $60 million who was on a mission to start an arts foundation.
She claimed to have lined up a renowned designer and an historic six-floor building on the corner of Park Avenue and 22nd Street.
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But the wealthy backers and pals she began seducing and the banks she tapped for loans, were be funding her lifestyle, not her foundation.
At the trial her defence lawyer Todd Spodek said: "Anna had to fake it until she could make it."
But, he said, she never intended to commit a crime.
"In her world, this is what her social circle did," he told the jury. "Everyone's life was perfectly curated for social media. People were fake. People were phoney. And money was made on hype alone."
Sorokin's Instagram profile was a huge part of the con – making her look like a mover on the arts scene and a glamorous, super-rich socialite.
She convinced a hotel to let her stay as a long term guest without having to put down a credit card and borrowed huge sums of money from friends without paying it back.
Vanity Fair photojournalist Rachel DeLoache Williams revealed how she had been hoodwinked by Sorokin after they met at Manhattan nightclub Happy Ending.
In an article she described how she was seduced by her apparent "glamorous, frictionless" lifestyle – enjoying cocktails and fancy dinners.
Anna usually paid, from her “trust fund” and even treated her on a trip to Morocco – with her personal trainer and another photographer.
But Sorokin asked her to reserve a luxury, $7,000-per-night riad in Marrakesh, which she'd pay for later, but when they came to check out, her credit cards did not work.
Ms Williams ended up footing the bill for the entire six day trip - $62,000.
"It was a magic trick,” she says.. "I'm embarrassed to say that I was one of the props, and the audience, too.
“Anna's was a beautiful dream of New York, like one of those nights that never seems to end. And then the bill arrives."
Sorkin's trial was watched by millions in the US and many view her as some kind on antihero. They admire her for duping the “more money than sense” brigade that they secretly envy.
Last summer, T-shirts saying Free Anna Delvey became the ironic must-have for Brooklynites and fashion mag Marie Claire wrote: “No-one died as a result of her actions, she just made rich people look like idiots." (It later recognised there had been victims.)
Sorokin was held in New York's tough Rikers Island jail ahead of her trial. But she worked with a stylist, Anastasia Walker, to get her courtroom look just right.
She arrived on day one in stylish black glasses and a matching choker, and later wore designer outfits from Saint Laurent, Michael Kors and Victoria Beckham.
Ms Walker told infatuated magazines the look was "mysterious chic ".
One day, when proceedings were delayed because of wardrobe troubles Justice Diane Kiesel gave Sorokin a dressing down.
"This is unacceptable and inappropriate," she said. "This is not a fashion show."
Anna Sorokin is currently wearing the latests in prison jumpsuits, and waiting to learn how many seasons she'll have to keep the same look.
And on May 9 the world will discover how the fake heiress and con woman will finally pay for her crimes.
