Harvard grad studies cons and how to avoid them
The IRS has long dubbed the weeks leading up to the mid-April tax filing deadline “scam season” because of the predictable uptick of schemes and tricks designed to part the unsuspecting from their money. But lately, in addition to the usual political charlatans and business cheats, a clutch of cons and scams tailor-made for social media has leapt off the pages of police blotters and captivated popular culture. Everywhere you look, TV documentaries, books, magazines, and podcasts have stories about cons. Scams and cons are definitely having a moment. Some of the most talked about: Anna Sorokin, known as “The Soho Grifter,” allegedly swanned around the Manhattan party circuit for two years posing as Anna Delvey, a wealthy German heiress, conning an array of hipsters, trendy hotels and boutiques, and international banks out of $275,000 before her arrest in late 2017. Sorokin’s trial on multiple grand larceny charges began in New York...