Anna Delvey Offers Tips for Winning USA Network's New Reality Series The Anonymous

USA Network’s new reality show The Anonymous is all about deception, lying, and not letting people know the real you. So, who better to promote the series, which debuts on August 19, than one of the more famous scammers of the modern era, Anna Delvey?

In a new promo for the series (below), Anna Delvey (whose real name is Anna Sorokin) teases some of the subterfuge and action that’s to come in The Anonymous.

The show features 12 contestants hoping to win the ultimate prize of $100,000, each playing in two different worlds. There’s the real world, where they do the typical reality show face-to-face gameplay, and there’s "anonymous mode." From behind a digital veil of secrecy, the players are free to lie, leak, scheme, and deny, all while remaining anonymous. They can use this cover to help advance themselves through the game — unless the other players can guess their real identities. 

RELATED: Meet the Cast of USA Network's The Anonymous: Liars, Deceivers & Reality Vets

“I hear USA has a new show called The Anonymous. I might know a thing or two about deception,” Delvey says in the promo as the camera flashes to the ankle monitor she’s wearing as a result of her fraud conviction. “Here’s what I’ll say: Never be afraid to dress up — your look or the truth. Trust me, I’d never lie to you.”

Who Is Anna Delvey?

Delvey, a 33-year-old immigrant who was born in the Soviet Union and eventually came to New York City in 2013, became infamous in the public eye a few years ago when a series of scams she’d been running came to light. 

In short, Delvey lived a lavish lifestyle in the NYC fashion and art world despite not having the money to do so. She falsified documents that suggested she had a trust fund worth millions and used this faux status to trick banks, realtors, and even her friends into giving her massive payouts without any collateral.

All in all, Anna Delvey swindled her way into $275,000 of fraudulently gotten gains — that’s nearly three times the total possible prize money on The Anonymous, and she got it because she was able to trick those around her into thinking she was somebody she wasn’t. 

Her story was documented in a lengthy Vanity Fair article written by Rachel DeLoache Williams, one of her friends/victims, and was later adapted into a Netflix miniseries called Inventing Anna. 

Of course, Delvey wouldn’t be on house arrest wearing an ankle monitor in the promo if she’d gotten away with it. She was arrested in a 2017 NYPD sting operation, and the cops were aided by Williams, who she’d stolen $62,000 from. Delvey served two years in prison following her 2019 conviction for attempted grand larceny, larceny in the second degree, and theft of services. Upon her release from prison, she was confined to 24-hour house arrest, and the terms of her sentence also prohibited her from using any social media. 

However, Delvey’s ban on posting to social media is expiring, meaning she is free to post away ... just in time to chat all about The Anonymous.

The Anonymous kicks off with a three-episode premiere on Monday, August 19 at 11 p.m. ET/PT on USA Network. Episodes will also air simultaneously across Bravo and SYFY on premiere night and repeat in primetime daily on USA throughout the week. New episodes will then premiere every Monday on USA Network at 11 p.m. ET/PT.