Why We Love to Hate Women Who Grift

“The story is so rich with cray-cray we had to make it a two-parter! Influencer Caroline Calloway managed to get an almost half-million dollar advance for a book she never wrote. . . and when she had to pay back that half-mill, she got, well, very creative. Researching Calloway’s environs led to a long lunch at Minetta Tavern. Not sorry.” -Bethanne Patrick

BP: “Yes, occasionally I wind up in our Missing Pages stories, due to my long and bumpy history in the publishing world. I got taken—although others got taken more than I did, sadly—by Anna March, whose real name might be Delaney, or Ann, or something completely different. I hope you enjoy my perspective on this story, originally reported in the Los Angeles Times.”

BP: “Our interview with Kaavya Viswanathan, once known as ‘the Harvard Plagiarist,’ reinforced my view that modern media is a grand illusion, one where beloved news anchors play hardball with softball stories for their own purposes, and no one bothers to follow up and find out, if not the truth, further information that might matter.”

BP: “If you’re at all interested in scams, women, and women scammers, Laci Mosley’s fabulous Scam Goddess podcast is a must! Not only does she discuss all kinds of rackets, she always has a comedian as co-host or sidekick, including Chris Gethard, Oscar Montoya, Ayo Edebiri. . . As they say, it’s True Fun Crime. Episode 167, ‘The Liar in Literature’ with Atsuko Okasutka, is all about Missing Pages fave Dan Mallory.”

BP: “Oh, how I love Scamfluencers from Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi, who dive deep into those, like Caroline Calloway, who prey on our dreams and desires, whether for smoother skin, healthier hearts, or just finer handbags. Dr. Oz! Rip-off realtors! Even reality TV stars gone bad. . . but don’t miss the episode on Gina Champion-Cain and her blue-sky promises to revitalize downtown San Diego.”

BP: “Listen, not every woman who grifts has been covered by the podcast world OR the screen world (large or small). This Refinery29 list of female scammers has some all-time greats, from super well-known, like Elizabeth Holmes, to under the radar, like NYC’s Patricia Wutaan, who in 2015 was convicted of bilking men out of money through dating-website sob stories. Gotta hand it to her for the psychological chops.”

BP: “Lee Israel has to be the most famous female scam artist in the literary world, due to her 2008 memoir, ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger’ and its 2018 film adaptation starring Melissa McCarthy. Once a successful biography author, in 1990 Israel, down on her luck, began to forge letters from the likes of Dorothy Parker, Edna Ferber and Lillian Hellman, selling them to dealers. I’d love to cover the entire tale in ‘Missing Pages’ one day, because Israel maintains an amazing unrepentance.”

BP: “This fine list of books about scammers does include books about men as well as women, but I love that it includes Tori Telfer’s ‘Confident Women’ (includes some great historical examples) as well as poker-player-supreme Maria Konnikova’s ‘The Confidence Game,’ which explains why we all fall for cons. Hmmm, maybe I should read that one. . ."

The comedian and podcast host—and bonafide scam expert—shares her favorite capers, along with what makes them so irresistible.