20 Con-Filled Shows to Binge After "Inventing Anna"

Years after the case of Anna Delvey, aka Anna Sorokin, captivated an international audience in real life, Netflix's "Inventing Anna" is bringing the true-crime story to life in a new series. Between 2013 and 2017, Sorokin lived under the false identity of "Anna Delvey," an ultrarich German heiress in New York City. Under her fake identity, she managed to charm and con banks, businesses, hotels, and people. Her string of frauds was finally uncovered, and she was convicted in 2019.

It's no wonder Hollywood was desperate to turn this stranger-than-fiction crime story into a TV series. After all, who can resist watching a charming con artist, especially one who moved through such glitzy, glamorous circles? "Inventing Anna" isn't the first TV series about people getting away with a grift, and it won't be the last. If you're in the mood to dive into more tales of fraud and deception, we've got just the recommendations for you. From fictional thieves you can't help rooting for to real-life con artists and their intricate webs of lies, here are the shows to stream after watching "Inventing Anna."

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Burn Notice"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Burn Notice"

The main characters in "Burn Notice" and "Inventing Anna" both conceal their true identities — but they have very different reasons for doing so. At the start of this spy series, CIA contractor Michael gets "burned" during an operation, meaning that he's disavowed, exposed, and cut off. Without any resources or explanations, he has to build a new life and identity for himself. He uses his CIA skills to start a career as a private investigator, but he's not just taking on jobs for his clients — he's trying to find out who burned him and what really happened.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Good Behavior"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Good Behavior"

If your favorite part of "Inventing Anna" is the messy woman at the center of it all, "Good Behavior" is for you. "Downton Abbey" favorite Michelle Dockery plays Letty, a con artist and ex-thief whose career came to an abrupt end when she was sent to prison. Now, she's been released for good behavior and is hoping to get her life back on track — but she just can't seem to maintain her good behavior in the real world. While attempting to rob a hotel room, Letty accidentally overhears a conversation about a planned contract killing. She tries to intervene in the hit but ends up instead in a dangerous relationship with the hitman himself.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Leverage"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Leverage"

Looking for a lighter, breezier con-artist story? You can't go wrong with "Leverage." Nate, a former insurance investigator, gets hired by a wealthy executive to take down his closest competitor. Nate agrees to lead a team of quirky con artists — each of whom have their own specialties and reasons for being in the "business" — and that's when things really get going. Whereas Anna Delvey in "Inventing Anna" grifts the wealthy for her own gain, the "Leverage" grifters are a bit more altruistic, going after powerful people who have wronged "regular" people and exacting perfectly planned revenge. And if you can't get enough, a reboot, "Leverage: Redemption," began airing in 2021.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "The Mentalist"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "The Mentalist"

Patrick Jane built his career as a celebrity psychic, but his "psychic" powers were pure fiction — really, he was just a very observant con man. But after he brags about helping law enforcement profile a notorious serial killer, the killer murders Patrick's family in revenge. Now, he's working with law enforcement and using his prolific observational skills to help solve crimes. He's still got his own motivations, though: he wants to use his connections with investigators to track down and get revenge on the man who killed his family.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "White Collar"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "White Collar"

Just like Anna Delvey, Neal Caffrey, the protagonist of "White Collar," pulls off his cons in the glossy world of high society. A charming con artist and thief, Neal draws the attention of FBI agent Peter Burke but manages to evade him time and time again. Finally, Neal's luck runs out, and Peter catches up to him. After a failed prison escape, the pair make a deal. Neal agrees to help Peter investigate and catch white-collar criminals and con artists, and in exchange, he gets out of prison early. The pair's rapport develops over the years into a hilariously mismatched partnership that nevertheless does a pretty great job of cracking cons.

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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Love Fraud"

Anna Delvey used her charm and audacity to defraud her victims, but Richard Scott Smith, the subject of this four-part documentary series, took things to an even more extreme level. The series follows several women with one thing in common: all of them were charmed online by Smith, who conned them out of their money and their dignity before vanishing from their lives. With the justice system failing to get them answers, Smith's victims take matters into their own hands. Banding together, they hire a bounty hunter to track Smith down in hopes of getting the justice (and maybe the revenge) they deserve.

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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Generation Hustle"

The stories in "Generation Hustle" often seem too outlandish and brazen to be true — but they are. The series largely features bold young con artists, tracing their cons, their victims, and in some cases, their eventual downfalls. From pretending to be royalty to starting fraudulent businesses, these people stop at nothing to get what they want. "Inventing Anna" fans will find another take on the Anna Delvey case in one episode of "Generation Hustle"; other headline-grabbing scandals, like the WeWork controversy, also get covered, along with a handful of cases you might not have heard about before.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Psych"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Psych"

"Inventing Anna" portrays the destruction wreaked by a charming con artist, but "Psych" takes a lighter (and funnier) approach. Instilled with incredible powers of observation by his law-enforcement father, slacker Shawn flips the script when he solves a crime, only to be falsely accused of perpetrating it — and then claiming he was able to solve it because of his psychic powers. He's then hired as a "psychic" police consultant, along with his best friend Gus, and has to keep up his the ruse. Partnered with police detectives who have varying degrees of skepticism about his "abilities," Shawn has to balance running his long con with his growing respect and affection for his new colleagues.

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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Dirty Money"

Anna Delvey pretended to be an heiress, but "Dirty Money" shows there's plenty of crime and fraud among the actual wealthy elite. Centered on the world of high-powered international business, the docuseries investigates corrupt corporate practices, from individuals to entire industries and economies. It's not nearly as glamorous as the con in "Inventing Anna," but it's bigger in scope and follows the unraveling of cases at every level. If you're looking for jaw-dropping crimes perpetrated by people who believe they're untouchable, this is the series for you.

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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman"

If you thought Anna Delvey's fake backstory was intense, just wait until you meet Robert Hendy-Freegard. He didn't settle for impersonating a wealthy heir, a businessman, or a minor royal — no, he posed as an MI5 agent. James Bond, however, he was not — over the course of his crime spree, he managed to defraud several victims for a total of more than £1 million. The docuseries traces Hendy-Freegard's backstory and the frenzied effort to track him down, as well as the people and families he victimized. It's only a three-episode miniseries, but those three hours contain more than enough jaw-dropping twists to satisfy any true-crime fan.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Gossip Girl"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Gossip Girl"

The glitzy world inhabited by the characters of "Gossip Girl" is exactly the world Anna Delvey conned and cheated her way into. If you're more into the glossy, scandalous world of New York high society than true crime, you should dive straight to this iconic drama series. On the Upper East Side, a group of rich teenagers attend an exclusive prep school, fall in love, form (and betray) alliances, and deal with high-stakes family drama — all while dressed in peak '00s fashion.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Lupin"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Lupin"

Anna Delvey pulled off her con for self-serving reasons, but the main character of "Lupin" has a different motivation. Assane Diop's father, an immigrant from Senegal, was framed for jewel theft by his wealthy, powerful employer. Trapped in prison for a crime he didn't commit, he takes his own life, leaving Assane a teenage orphan. Decades later, Assane sets out on a mission to take down the family responsible for his father's imprisonment and death. To get close, he pulls off a number of thefts, cons, and disguises, all so he can finally avenge his father and reveal the family for what they truly are.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Sneaky Pete"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Sneaky Pete"

While most shows about con artists follow the fraudsters as they carry out their schemes, "Sneaky Pete" comes in from a slightly different angle. We pick up with Marius, a con man just out of prison, trying to avoid retribution from the mobster he once robbed. In order to save himself, he steals the identity of his prison cellmate, Pete. Posing as Pete, he "reunites" with Pete's long-lost family and tries to restart his life under a new alias — hoping all the while that his past won't catch up with him. But of course, nothing comes that easy.

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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Imposters"

Looking for a sleek series about con artists, the people they target, and the powers pulling the strings? This two-season dramedy hits all the right notes. After his new wife, "Ava," vanishes and takes all his savings with her, Ezra discovers that Ava was actually Maddie — a member of a team of con artists. Their standard operation: make the target fall in love with Maddie, under whatever false identity she's assumed at the time, then take everything after the wedding and vanish into the wind. Soon, Ezra is approached by two of Maddie's other "exes," and together, they look for a way to take down Maddie and her mysterious boss.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "The Catch"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "The Catch"

Like "Inventing Anna," "The Catch," another sleek and stylish drama, has the Shondaland powerhouse brand behind it. Alice, a private investigator, is pursuing a case that's very personal to her: her fiancé stole from her and bailed. As it turns out, he's not just a small-time con artist — he's actually part of a massive international crime organization. Alice is determined to track him down and put an end to his criminal enterprise before anyone else can get hurt — but it turns out that finding him is just the beginning of the story.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Cable Girls"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Cable Girls"

Like Anna Delvey, the antiheroine of "Cable Girls" also hides behind a fake backstory. Alba, a young woman with a complicated past and a present-day mission, uses another woman's name during a job interview for a phone company in 1920s Madrid. Under the name "Lidia," she targets the wealthy family that runs the company while bonding with her new coworkers. There's just one big problem: the owner's daughter is engaged to a man who knew Alba before — and who could expose her past at any time.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Hustle"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Hustle"

The con artists in "Hustle" have their own ethical "code." The premise is pretty straightforward: a group of grifters, all with their own specialties and range of expertise, team up to pull off short and long cons, usually against people who have somehow wronged others. Even as they commit crimes themselves, the team adheres to their own set of rules to do as little harm as possible. They'll return what they "borrow," avoid harming the innocent, and even quietly find ways to help their targets' victims.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Money Heist"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Money Heist"

If you're more into full-fledged heists than subtle grifts, "Money Heist," an internationally beloved Spanish thriller, is for you. The show has a straightforward premise: under the direction of a secretive leader, a mismatched group of criminals plan to rob the Royal Mint of Spain. As the story progresses past the initial robbery, we follow the characters' lives and learn their backstories.

Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Better Call Saul"
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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Better Call Saul"

One of the most complicated and recognizable con artists on TV today is Saul Goodman. First introduced as an amoral attorney on "Breaking Bad," Saul gets his own backstory in the prequel spinoff, "Better Call Saul." He starts out as Jimmy McGill, a former con artist who now works as an earnest, mostly honest public defense lawyer. The show traces his evolution into the no-holds-barred "fixer" of "Breaking Bad" as he slowly starts to lean back into his past as a grifter. It has a very different setting from "Inventing Anna," but it still hits the spot if you're looking for a story about someone's descent into a snowballing series of crimes.

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Shows Like "Inventing Anna": "Good Girls"

Like Anna Delvey, the characters in the darkly comedic "Good Girls" live fast-paced lives built on thefts, cons, and lies. Struggling to make ends meet, the three main characters in "Good Girls" decide to rob a grocery store — but unfortunately pick a store that serves as a front for organized crime. The three are sucked deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld — all while trying to maintain double lives as ordinary suburban moms.