Latest news with #Kari
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
Honey-trapper who made thousands seducing wealthy men so she could swindle them in two-year crime spree reveals why she did it - and says her victims were 'gullible'
A woman who swindled tens of thousands of dollars out of men before being outed as a fugitive has opened up about her story, revealing the methods and motivations behind her crime. Kari Ferrell, 37, who was interviewed for the What It Was Like podcast, became known as the 'Hipster Grifter' after being exposed for writing bad cheques and 'conning trust fund babies across Manhattan'. Among her untruths, she also claimed to be suffering from terminal cancer, and she lied to some of her marks about being pregnant and needing an abortion. She even lied on her resume to land herself a job at Vice magazine. Kari, who now lives in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood of New York, with her husband of 13 years, Elliot Ensor, and their rescue dog Gertie, was born in South Korea in 1987. She was adopted by an American family, who moved to Salt Lake City in Utah - which she described on the podcast as 'Mormon Mecca' - when she was two-years-old. Writing in her memoirs You'll Never Believe Me: A Life of Lies, Second Tries, and Things I Should Only Tell My Therapist, which was published earlier this year, she said that the Mormon church gave her a 'masterclass in the art of manipulation'. 'I saw just how gullible people are, and how they will believe anything and everything,' she added. According to Kari, as one of just two Asian people in her school, she struggled with finding a sense of identity, and 'would bounce from friend group to friend group [...] just constantly trying to be the person that I thought everyone else needed'. During her adolescence, she started shoplifting, with her social circle starting the 'scumbag Olympics ', where they would set out to steal certain items. The 'winner' of the competition would then be given all of the things that had been purloined by the group. Kari's crimes escalated when she started to swindle friends out of money, carrying out her first con - stealing $500 from her trusting boyfriend - when she was 18, and still living in Utah, before then using the same ruse with other friends. She explained that she would tell people she was having issues with her bank, and couldn't take money out of the cash machine, but was able to write cheques. Kari would write a cheque, and ask someone to cash it, saying she would not only pay them back, but would give them an additional $100 and take them for dinner. 'It began with people who actually wanted to help me, because they actually cared about me, because they were my actual friends,' she said on the podcast. 'They were the people who never considered that I would ever be lying to them when I'm you know spouting this ridiculous story about my bank.' According to Kari, she 'ran [herself] out of Utah', after word spread that she was conning people, and no one wanted anything to do with her. She estimates that in Utah, she swindled 'five to six' people out of around $2,000. However, before getting out of town, she was arrested, and behind bars for 'a very brief stint', but after posting bail, she skipped town, moving to New York City to 'become who [she] had always wanted to be'. 'This was not a scammer, not a criminal - [rather] just a person who gets to express themselves and immerse themselves in culture,' she said. Kari didn't plan to write more bad cheques, however, getting a job and earning money was more difficult than she had anticipated, and she soon found herself needing money, which made her fall back into her bad ways. Explaining how she carried out a con, she revealed that she would go out to a bar, then choose a mark, and write a note she would slide over to that person. The note would say 'something silly', like 'I want you to give me a massage - from the inside'. Some of her marks would be one night stands, others, she would develop an ongoing relationship with, stealing items from them when she went to their homes, including an iPod, which had been gifted as a graduation present, loose cash that was lying around, and an expensive camera. She said: 'What I remember was how I was like, "wow, this person has so many things that they never asked me about any of the stuff that I've taken". 'It was never like, "oh, I lost my iPod. But I do remember it being here, and I remember you being here that same time".' Kari said she still wonders whether this is because they trusted her, or because 'they just had so many things they just didn't care, or they didn't think about it or they could just buy another one'. As a result, she revealed, she started thinking of herself as 'a kind of f***** up vigilante type', and 'Robin Hood-esque' - a character her fans would later ascribe to her after her story went public. In 2009, after falsifying her CV, Kari - who says she probably scammed 'at least 20, if not more' men - landed a job at Vice magazine as an admin assistant. 'I finally got my dream job, which was at Vice magazine,' she told the podcast. 'And Vice for me, represented everything that I thought was cool, but that I wanted to be, which was edgy, risk taking, a little off colour, all of that stuff.' She added that finally having a proper job meant she wouldn't have to continue with 'all the shady s***' she had been doing. However, it was during her employment at Vice that her precarious existence started to unravel. Having skipped Utah while on bail, Kari had a number of warrants out for her arrest, as well as court dates she had missed - meaning she was on a 'most wanted' list, something she was unaware of. 'It was kind of like little old me, this 20-year-old who had written bad cheques -but not to an enormous degree - was on a most wanted list next to murderers, next to people who had legitimate proper Ponzi schemes,' she said. 'That was very confusing for me.' When someone at Vice Googled Kari, they discovered she was wanted. Rather than quietly let her go, they 'unceremoniously' fired her by publishing a post which went viral. Titled Department of Oopsies! - We Hired a Grifter, the piece said: 'When the time comes for you to take on a new administrative assistant, try plugging your prospective employee's name into this new internet dealie called Google to make sure she doesn't have any less-than-desirable traits, like, say, five outstanding warrants for fraud in Utah where she also faked numerous abortions and was run out of town after earning a colorful nickname such as 'The Filth".' The story spread beyond Vice, and was picked up by other news outlets, with one branding Kari the 'Hipster Grifter'. According to Kari, she 'enjoyed that [she] was stirring s*** up', adding that to her, her victims 'very much represented, to me, the kind of people that I grew up with - all of these white guys who were objectifying and fetishing me'. She added that while this didn't justify her conning them, there were occasions on which she hadn't planned to swindle someone, but then had done after they made 'triggering' comments, like 'I've never had an Asian girl before'. After the story broke, a man she had met several days before at the launch of the DVD set for Flight of the Conchords, text her and offered to help, saying she could lay low by staying at his place. He promised he wouldn't give her up to the authorities, then sent a car, so she could travel to his home. However, she explained: 'When I get there, immediately he answers the door, pulls me in, and starts kissing me. And I'm like, "whoa, whoa, whoa, we never talked about this, we never agreed to this, this is not something that I'm wanting to do, I'm going to get out of here". 'And it was essentially a situation where it was like, "well, you're already here, you're in my place, I'm offering these things, and what's going to stop me from calling the authorities on you now?".' Kari added that she was thinking 'this guy has a lot of stuff, like, there's me thinking, "okay, if I'm going to do this, I obviously have to make this worth my while".' She revealed that the man she was staying with had 'a thing for infamous people', and wanted her to provide some unusual services for him - like reading articles about herself while he pleasured himself. Setting a two-article limit, she agreed to it. According to Kari, when reading the articles, she became indignant about factual errors in them. Going to bed in what was a second bedroom/office space, she thought to herself: 'What am I doing? I'd rather go live in a roach-infested apartment rather than here with this weirdo.' While there, she decided to make the most of it, and scoured the room for items to steal - including a paperweight, thumb drive, and book of cheques. Refusing to name the man, she revealed that he is now a 'person of note' - a business man who has disrupted an industry, and whose name is known in the US. At this point, she realised 'something has to give', as her limited options were limited to living in a roach-infested apartment, or in this spare room - 'neither of which were the most palatable'. 'I did want to take care of it,' she told the podcast. 'I wanted it to be over. Basically, I took a bus to Philadelphia and was met by several police officers who arrested me, and so I was in a Philadelphia detention centre for about 30 days until the State of Utah sent two detectives to handcuff me and put me on a plane to fly me back to Utah.' She says that in total, she spent around a year incarcerated, and now feels she is totally reformed. Kari explained: 'I truly believe that I will never go back. I will never be incarcerated again. But the parts of me that are reformed are not [reformed] because I went to jail. 'It's 1,000 per cent because of the people I met there, and all of these amazing women who I saw, who have just been completely knocked down and are there's no way for them to get back up. 'There's no way to, you know "pull yourselves up by your bootstraps" if you don't even have boots to begin with.' Going on to describe the stress of living with her lies and manipulations, she said: 'I am a queer woman, so my entire life, I felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and that I was going to be caught, and that I was running away from something, and that I was bad. 'So it certainly was a heightened version of that, but it was not that uncommon from all the feelings I had had my entire life up until that point.' Kari also discussed what was 'by far the worst thing [she] ever did', which was lying to multiple people about having cancer - which she did while living in New York. 'That is just f***** up beyond belief,' she said, adding that she lied 'for the attention'. She explained that she came up with the cancer lie when a woman she had a crush on was in a burgeoning relationship with a man, and she wanted her attention - even getting the woman to accompany her to hospital appointments. When asked how she was able to go to hospital given she didn't actually have cancer, Kari explained: 'Because it's easy to manipulate anyone and everyone. But also, if you go into a hospital and you say "I have all of these things that are happening to me," they're internal things, it takes time for them to parse out whether or not you're lying.' Opening up about why she had lied to, and conned people, Kari said: 'The best that I can give is because of, at the time, my own insecurities and my own ego and my own confusion around who I am as a person. 'And now, it's a double edged sword having a story like this. And so in finding that people are interested in what I have to say, it feels like a disservice to not utilise that in some way, toward moving the needle toward a more compassionate society in some way.'
Scottish Sun
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
I stole thousands from hunky one-night stands & faked lung cancer – then bosses found out I was criminal on the run
She was the OG internet-famous fraudster and, in an exclusive interview with The Sun, Kari Ferrell reveals the truth behind her Noughties crime spree that saw her target and rob trendy men HIPSTER GRIFTER I stole thousands from hunky one-night stands & faked lung cancer – then bosses found out I was criminal on the run Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SITTING on the bus, Kari Ferrell glanced at her phone and saw her own police mugshot staring back at her. After committing a series of scams 2,000 miles away, Kari had fled across the country to start a new life in New York where no one knew her - even landing her dream job at a well-known brand. 8 Kari Ferrell reveals the truth behind her Noughties crime spree that saw her target and rob hipster men Credit: Ria Osborne 8 Kari pictured on Salt Lake City police department's most-wanted list Credit: Salt Lake City Police Department 8 Kari with her husband Elliot Credit: Supplied by Kari Ferrell But despite this big break at trendy culture magazine Vice, Kari had continued her crime spree, stealing money from men she hooked up with and cashing cheques from a stolen cheque book. It would be that dream job that became her undoing, after a viral blog post written by one of her colleagues, entitled Department Of Oopsies! We Hired A Grifter, exposed her as a fugitive on the most-wanted list of a police force on the other side of the USA, accused of a range of offences. The 2009 article explained the magazine had discovered its admin assistant had five outstanding warrants for fraud, had been run out of Utah and earned herself the nickname 'The Filth'. Nicknamed 'The Filth' The blog sparked an online frenzy in which Kari became one of the world's first internet-famous memes. Across the city, people became obsessed with her story, and with finding her. Public sightings were posted on forums, while former friends and lovers spilled the beans on her scams and lies. Long before Anna Delvey and The Tinder Swindler, Kari was one of the OG internet-famous fraudsters, and in an exclusive interview with Fabulous, she opens up about finally revealing her side of the story this year in her book, You'll Never Believe Me: A Life Of Lies, Second Tries, And Things I Should Only Tell My Therapist. Now married for 13 years to her photographer husband Elliot Esnor, Kari lives in Brooklyn. She was born in Korea and adopted by her parents, Karen and Terry, who took her to live in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she was raised in the Mormon church. Seven shock revelations as Anna Delvey slams parents after arrest Consequently, she always felt like an outsider. Kari, 38, explains: 'It's one of those religions where you're told as a woman that you need to be married and your husband is going to teach you all of the things that you need to know to be able to go to heaven. It was a very isolated community and there wasn't a lot of Asian representation. 'There were scriptures that talked about how, if you weren't white, you were 'dark and loathsome'. So, I assumed I was doomed to purgatory. 'I figured: 'Why am I aspiring to be a perfect Mormon child when they don't even want me there?'' I was stealing money from other people to pay the previous ones back – it was like a pyramid scheme Kari Ferrell Kari's parents divorced when she was in her teens. That's when she fell in with a rebellious crowd at school and started shoplifting. The victim of her first 'grift' was a boyfriend, 21-year-old Charlie Connors, who she met when she was 18. 'What I did doesn't make any sense,' Kari admits. 'It was acting without thinking. It was testing the limits. It was an uncontrollable urge to mess up, because I didn't deserve anything good.' She persuaded Charlie to cash a $500 cheque she wrote him and give her the money, after telling him her account had been frozen. In fact, her account had been closed weeks earlier because there were no funds in it. Kari, who was working as a receptionist in a veterinary clinic at the time, knew the cheque would bounce and, when it did a week later, she convinced Charlie the bank was investigating why and that she would pay him back. 8 Kari, pictured when she was younger, grew up in a mormon community 8 Kari posing with the cover of her new book Credit: Supplied by Kari Ferrell Over the following months, Kari began to swindle other friends and acquaintances using the same ruse. 'My victims were good people who simply wanted to help a pal. And I was still convinced that what I was doing wasn't wrong, because I fully intended to have the money to pay them back,' she says. She even used the cash she scammed to buy gifts and treat her friends. In her book, she writes that she 'stole money in the hopes that people wouldn't forget me.' She says: 'I always told myself I had time to get the money and pay them back, but what ended up happening was that I was stealing money from other people to pay the previous one back – it was like a pyramid scheme.' Her swindling went next level when her own cheques ran out. and she stole a bag from a lady in a restaurant, using the cheque book she found inside instead. In early 2008, aged 19, she was eventually reported to police by one of her victims. She was arrested, held on remand and released, after she persuaded another friend to pay the $1,000 bail. I was leaving with their cash, while all they were left with were blue balls Kari Ferrell Instead of going to trial, Kari ran away to New York that April, where she tried to make a fresh start. She spent weeks looking for work until, she says: 'The little money that I did have ran out. And I basically put myself in the same position again.' She persuaded friends to cash her stolen cheques, then progressed to stealing from men she met in bars and at gigs. Her 'marks' in New York were often one-night stands – 'white, trust-fund guys' and 'ones who had an almost fetishisation of me and other Asians.' She admits she was still attracted to the men she stole from. 'I still had to have some sort of connection with them,' she says. 'There was no plotting. It was more like – I find that person attractive, now I'm at their apartment and there's $50 in crumpled bills sitting on their table. I'm going to take that.' At the time, Kari was living in the up-and-coming Brooklyn district of Williamsburg, where in the Noughties the hipster movement took off. Men with beards, wearing checked shirts, who obsessed over craft beer, vinyl records and anything retro, became her main targets. She even had a tattoo on her back that read: 'I Love Beards'. She later described 'luring bearded dudes into my web, going home with them, then leaving with their cash, while all they were left with were blue balls.' It became like a manhunt, like a game for people to try and spot me and then post sightings online Kari Ferrell It was during this time that Kari also lied to a friend that she had lung cancer. In the book, she recalls how she became jealous of her female friend's relationship with a new man, so lied about the illness to gain more of her attention. 'When they eventually broke up, the lung cancer I had lied about went into remission,' she writes. But her actions were finally about to catch up with her. In April 2009, Kari landed an assistant role at hipster bible Vice magazine. Just weeks in, a colleague she'd flirted with decided to Google her name – and spotted her details on Salt Lake City police department's most-wanted list. Romance scams red flags 1. They quickly tell you they love you From calling you their soulmate to saying 'I've never felt this way before' after dating for days or a few weeks. 2. They avoid meeting in person If you've matched online, they will always have an excuse; working late, family emergencies etc. 3. They ask for money or gift cards Often they say they need help paying for travel, have a sick relative or child, or their bank account is frozen, or purse lost. They may also ask for gift cards, crypto, transfers or money through apps. 4. Their story doesn't add up From inconsistencies in their background, to grammatical errors and timeline inaccuracies. Check their photos too, if they look too professional or appear in reverse image searches. 5. They want to move the conversation off the dating site If they want to talk via email, WhatsApp, G-Chat or another private platform quickly. They might also avoid platforms with scam reporting tools or moderation. 6. They avoid video calls From claiming their camera is broken, or in an area with no signal - and when they might do a video call, but it may be short, blurry or clearly fake. That's when the magazine outed her to its readers. 'I read the story and I'm like: 'Oh, boy.' I realised that I couldn't keep on running away and doing what I had been doing,' Kari says. The story caught the public's imagination, and other articles on her escapades in New York followed. It included one in The New York Observer, where the author dubbed Kari 'The Hipster Grifter', due to her penchant for trendy, bearded male victims. Gossip blogs ran obsessive coverage. Interviews with exes and leaked nude photos flooded the internet. 'One from Italy is particularly memorable, referring to me as 'The Filth',' Kari recalls. Her flirty pick-up lines – scrawled on napkins and matchbooks – like: 'I want you to massage me, from the inside,' were sold on eBay, and T-shirts with her face appeared online. 'It became like a manhunt, like a game for people to try and spot me and then post sightings of me online. I went into hiding.' Not all the attention was negative. 'Some people had the attitude of 'good for her',' she says, especially those who saw hipsters as self-righteous and humourless. Initially, she assumed she'd be found and arrested straight away. But it wasn't for several weeks, in May 2009, that she was finally taken into custody by the police while she was visiting friends in Philadelphia. 'It was a relief,' she says. 'It felt like it was the first step to it being over.' 8 Vice wrote an article on hiring Kari Credit: Vice Kari pleaded guilty and was handed a suspended one-year sentence and 36 months probation for attempting forgery, and was given a suspended prison term of up to five years and ordered to serve nine months in jail for forgery. She had already served 132 days, and was released from prison in February 2010. 'After that, I just wanted to fade into obscurity,' she says. But she struggled to come to terms with what had happened and eventually started therapy, which she says helped her understand her behaviour. 'Being adopted had left a huge hole in my past and, subsequently, my heart. I frequently mourned the relationships I lost, which felt selfish. Being adopted had left a huge hole in my past and, subsequently, my heart. I frequently mourned the relationships I lost, which felt selfish Kari Ferrell "I questioned whether I felt that way because of how I had hurt the other person, or because I had hurt myself. "We are not good or bad – we're a mix of all the feelings, and we choose which one is allowed to poke its head above water.' Even now, Kari still wrestles with the big question of why she did what she did. 'I knew what I was doing wasn't right,' she says. After her release from jail, Kari met Elliot while on probation in Utah. He was in the military and staying at the same hotel where she worked as a live-in cook. She wrote in her book: 'I felt supported and loved, and I had a dude – who I didn't even have to lie to, nor did I want to – who wanted to support and take care of me.' Kari went on to work in offices and was honest with HR departments about her past, but went by her middle name, Michelle, and kept her colleagues in the dark. 8 Simon Leviev, aka the Tinder Swindler Credit: Instagram Other high profile scammers The "Yahoo Boys" Scams Estimate losses: Billions of dollars globally Originating from Nigeria, this group of fraudsters uses fake online identities to lure victims into romantic relationships. Victims are often manipulated into sending money under the pretense of emergencies, travel costs, or gifts. The Tinder Swindler Estimated Losses: Over $10 million from multiple women Simon Leviev (real name Shimon Hayut) posed as the son of a diamond mogul on Tinder, living a lavish lifestyle to gain trust. Once involved romantically, he would claim his life was in danger and ask for money. The Anna Sorokin Case Estimated losses: $275,000 stolen Anna Delvey pretended to be a wealthy German heiress, defrauding friends and businesses in the social circles of NYC. While not a traditional romance scam, she used charm and false identity in personal relationships. It didn't always work out, though. On several occasions, co-workers discovered her true identity and she was forced to leave. Even after marrying Elliot in 2011 and taking his surname, she couldn't fully escape her past. She lasted five years in one role as a digital marketing director, but was let go when clients discovered her criminal history. Today, Kari runs her own production company, and later this year she's launching a podcast called The Worst Thing I've Ever Done, in which guests share their biggest transgressions. There's even talk of a TV series based on her life. Kari has been compared to Anna Delvey – who was jailed for posing as a wealthy heiress to scam New York socialites – and Billy McFarland, who defrauded investors out of $27.4million to fund the doomed Fyre Festival. 8 Anna Delvey was jailed for posing as a wealthy heiress to scam New York socialites Credit: Rex 'I definitely like to think of myself as being separate from them, because it does not seem that they are very remorseful,' she says, alluding to the fact that Delvey capitalised on her notoriety, even appearing on Dancing With The Stars, while McFarland, post-prison, tried to launch Fyre Festival 2. Kari notes that her scams totalled around $10,000 and that: 'Compared to them, it was minimal.' She now hopes that by speaking out and owning her past, people will see the real Kari Ferrell – not just The Hipster Grifter. 'I hope most people would consider me a good person,' she says, revealing that the reaction she gets from people is generally positive. 'I've always had a weird popularity. There were people online saying these horrible things about me, and you would expect that to translate into the real world, but it doesn't.'
The Irish Sun
06-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
I stole thousands from hunky one-night stands & faked lung cancer – then bosses found out I was criminal on the run
SITTING on the bus, Kari Ferrell glanced at her phone and saw her own police mugshot staring back at her. After committing a series of scams 2,000 miles away, Kari had fled across the country to start a new life in New York where no one knew her - even landing her dream job at a well-known brand. Advertisement 8 Kari Ferrell reveals the truth behind her Noughties crime spree that saw her target and rob hipster men Credit: Ria Osborne 8 Kari pictured on Salt Lake City police department's most-wanted list Credit: Salt Lake City Police Department 8 Kari with her husband Elliot Credit: Supplied by Kari Ferrell But despite this big break at trendy culture magazine Vice, Kari had continued her crime spree, stealing money from men she hooked up with and cashing cheques from a stolen cheque book. It would be that dream job that became her undoing, after a viral blog post written by one of her colleagues, entitled Department Of Oopsies! We Hired A Grifter, exposed her as a fugitive on the most-wanted list of a police force on the other side of the USA, accused of a range of offences. Advertisement The 2009 article explained the magazine had discovered its admin assistant had five outstanding warrants for fraud, had been run out of Utah and earned herself the nickname 'The Filth'. Nicknamed 'The Filth' The blog sparked an online frenzy in which Kari became one of the world's first internet-famous memes. Across the city, people became obsessed with her story, and with finding her. Public sightings were posted on forums, while former friends and lovers spilled the beans on her scams and lies. Long before Advertisement Now married for 13 years to her photographer husband Elliot Esnor, Kari lives in Brooklyn. She was born in Korea and adopted by her parents, Karen and Terry, who took her to live in Seven shock revelations as Anna Delvey slams parents after arrest Consequently, she always felt like an outsider. Kari, 38, explains: 'It's one of those religions where you're told as a woman that you need to be married and your husband is going to teach you all of the things that you need to know to be able to go to heaven. It was a very isolated community and there wasn't a lot of Asian representation. Advertisement 'There were scriptures that talked about how, if you weren't white, you were 'dark and loathsome'. So, I assumed I was doomed to purgatory. 'I figured: 'Why am I aspiring to be a perfect Mormon child when they don't even want me there?'' I was stealing money from other people to pay the previous ones back – it was like a pyramid scheme Kari Ferrell Kari's parents divorced when she was in her teens. That's when she fell in with a rebellious crowd at school and started shoplifting. The victim of her first 'grift' was a boyfriend, 21-year-old Charlie Connors, who she met when she was 18. Advertisement 'What I did doesn't make any sense,' Kari admits. 'It was acting without thinking. It was testing the limits. It was an uncontrollable urge to mess up, because I didn't deserve anything good.' She persuaded Charlie to cash a $500 cheque she wrote him and give her the money, after telling him her account had been frozen. In fact, her account had been closed weeks earlier because there were no funds in it. Kari, who was working as a receptionist in a veterinary clinic at the time, knew the cheque would bounce and, when it did a week later, she convinced Charlie the bank was investigating why and that she would pay him back. 8 Kari, pictured when she was younger, grew up in a mormon community Advertisement 8 Kari posing with the cover of her new book Credit: Supplied by Kari Ferrell Over the following months, Kari began to swindle other friends and acquaintances using the same ruse. 'My victims were good people who simply wanted to help a pal. And I was still convinced that what I was doing wasn't wrong, because I fully intended to have the money to pay them back,' she says. She even used the cash she scammed to buy gifts and treat her friends. In her book, she writes that she 'stole money in the hopes that people wouldn't forget me.' Advertisement She says: 'I always told myself I had time to get the money and pay them back, but what ended up happening was that I was stealing money from other people to pay the previous one back – it was like a pyramid scheme.' Her swindling went next level when her own cheques ran out. and she stole a bag from a lady in a restaurant, using the cheque book she found inside instead. In early 2008, aged 19, she was eventually reported to police by one of her victims. She was arrested, held on remand and released, after she persuaded another friend to pay the $1,000 bail. I was leaving with their cash, while all they were left with were blue balls Kari Ferrell Instead of going to trial, Kari ran away to New York that April, where she tried to make a fresh start. Advertisement She spent weeks looking for work until, she says: 'The little money that I did have ran out. And I basically put myself in the same position again.' She persuaded friends to cash her stolen cheques, then progressed to stealing from men she met in bars and at gigs. Her 'marks' in New York were often one-night stands – 'white, trust-fund guys' and 'ones who had an almost fetishisation of me and other Asians.' She admits she was still attracted to the men she stole from. 'I still had to have some sort of connection with them,' she says. Advertisement 'There was no plotting. It was more like – I find that person attractive, now I'm at their apartment and there's $50 in crumpled bills sitting on their table. I'm going to take that.' At the time, Kari was living in the up-and-coming Men with beards, wearing checked shirts, who obsessed over craft beer, vinyl records and anything retro, became her main targets. She even had a tattoo on her back that read: 'I Love Beards'. She later described 'luring bearded dudes into my web, going home with them, then leaving with their cash, while all they were left with were blue balls.' Advertisement It became like a manhunt, like a game for people to try and spot me and then post sightings online Kari Ferrell It was during this time that Kari also lied to a friend that she had lung cancer. In the book, she recalls how she became jealous of her female friend's relationship with a new man, so lied about the illness to gain more of her attention. 'When they eventually broke up, the lung cancer I had lied about went into remission,' she writes. But her actions were finally about to catch up with her. In April 2009, Kari landed an assistant role at hipster bible Vice magazine. Just weeks in, a colleague she'd flirted with decided to Google her name – and spotted her details on Salt Lake City police department's most-wanted list. Advertisement Romance scams red flags 1. They quickly tell you they love you From calling you their soulmate to saying 'I've never felt this way before' after dating for days or a few weeks. 2. They avoid meeting in person If you've matched online, they will always have an excuse; working late, family emergencies etc. 3. They ask for money or gift cards Often they say they need help paying for travel, have a sick relative or child, or their bank account is frozen, or purse lost. They may also ask for gift cards, crypto, transfers or money through apps. 4. Their story doesn't add up From inconsistencies in their background, to grammatical errors and timeline inaccuracies. Check their photos too, if they look too professional or appear in reverse image searches. 5. They want to move the conversation off the dating site If they want to talk via email, WhatsApp, G-Chat or another private platform quickly. They might also avoid platforms with scam reporting tools or moderation. 6. They avoid video calls From claiming their camera is broken, or in an area with no signal - and when they might do a video call, but it may be short, blurry or clearly fake. That's when the magazine outed her to its readers. 'I read the story and I'm like: 'Oh, boy.' I realised that I couldn't keep on running away and doing what I had been doing,' Kari says. The story caught the public's imagination, and other articles on her escapades in New York followed. It included one in The New York Observer, where the author dubbed Kari 'The Hipster Grifter', due to her penchant for trendy, bearded male victims. Gossip blogs ran obsessive coverage. Interviews with exes and leaked nude photos flooded the internet. Advertisement 'One from Italy is particularly memorable, referring to me as 'The Filth',' Kari recalls. Her flirty pick-up lines – scrawled on napkins and matchbooks – like: 'I want you to massage me, from the inside,' were sold on eBay, and T-shirts with her face appeared online. 'It became like a manhunt, like a game for people to try and spot me and then post sightings of me online. I went into hiding.' Not all the attention was negative. 'Some people had the attitude of 'good for her',' she says, especially those who saw hipsters as self-righteous and humourless. Advertisement Initially, she assumed she'd be found and arrested straight away. But it wasn't for several weeks, in May 2009, that she was finally taken into custody by the police while she was visiting friends in 'It was a relief,' she says. 'It felt like it was the first step to it being over.' 8 Vice wrote an article on hiring Kari Credit: Vice Kari pleaded guilty and was handed a suspended one-year sentence and 36 months probation for attempting forgery, and was given a suspended prison term of up to five years and ordered to serve nine months in jail for forgery. Advertisement She had already served 132 days, and was released from prison in February 2010. 'After that, I just wanted to fade into obscurity,' she says. But she struggled to come to terms with what had happened and eventually started therapy, which she says helped her understand her behaviour. 'Being adopted had left a huge hole in my past and, subsequently, my heart. I frequently mourned the relationships I lost, which felt selfish. Being adopted had left a huge hole in my past and, subsequently, my heart. I frequently mourned the relationships I lost, which felt selfish Kari Ferrell "I questioned whether I felt that way because of how I had hurt the other person, or because I had hurt myself. Advertisement "We are not good or bad – we're a mix of all the feelings, and we choose which one is allowed to poke its head above water.' Even now, Kari still wrestles with the big question of why she did what she did. 'I knew what I was doing wasn't right,' she says. After her release from jail, Kari met Elliot while on probation in Utah. He was in the military and staying at the same hotel where she worked as a live-in cook. She wrote in her book: 'I felt supported and loved, and I had a dude – who I didn't even have to lie to, nor did I want to – who wanted to support and take care of me.' Advertisement Kari went on to work in offices and was honest with HR departments about her past, but went by her middle name, Michelle, and kept her colleagues in the dark. 8 Simon Leviev, aka the Tinder Swindler Credit: Instagram Other high profile scammers The "Yahoo Boys" Scams Estimate losses: Billions of dollars globally Originating from Nigeria, this group of fraudsters uses fake online identities to lure victims into romantic relationships. Victims are often manipulated into sending money under the pretense of emergencies, travel costs, or gifts. The Tinder Swindler Estimated Losses: Over $10 million from multiple women Simon Leviev (real name Shimon Hayut) posed as the son of a diamond mogul on Tinder, living a lavish lifestyle to gain trust. Once involved romantically, he would claim his life was in danger and ask for money. The Anna Sorokin Case Estimated losses: $275,000 stolen Anna Delvey pretended to be a wealthy German heiress, defrauding friends and businesses in the social circles of NYC. While not a traditional romance scam, she used charm and false identity in personal relationships. It didn't always work out, though. On several occasions, co-workers discovered her true identity and she was forced to leave. Even after marrying Elliot in 2011 and taking his surname, she couldn't fully escape her past. Advertisement She lasted five years in one role as a digital marketing director, but was let go when clients discovered her criminal history. Today, Kari runs her own production company, and later this year she's launching a podcast called The Worst Thing I've Ever Done, in which guests share their biggest transgressions. There's even talk of a TV series based on her life. Kari has been compared to Anna Delvey – who was jailed for posing as a wealthy heiress to scam New York socialites – and Billy McFarland, who defrauded investors out of $27.4million to fund the doomed Fyre Festival. 8 Anna Delvey was jailed for posing as a wealthy heiress to scam New York socialites Credit: Rex 'I definitely like to think of myself as being separate from them, because it does not seem that they are very remorseful,' she says, alluding to the fact that Delvey capitalised on her notoriety, even appearing on Dancing With The Stars, while McFarland, post-prison, tried to launch Fyre Festival 2. Advertisement Kari notes that her scams totalled around $10,000 and that: 'Compared to them, it was minimal.' She now hopes that by speaking out and owning her past, people will see the real Kari Ferrell – not just The Hipster Grifter. 'I hope most people would consider me a good person,' she says, revealing that the reaction she gets from people is generally positive. 'I've always had a weird popularity. There were people online saying these horrible things about me, and you would expect that to translate into the real world, but it doesn't.'
Los Angeles Times
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
‘Enduring Wild' is an engaging travelogue about California public lands under attack
Josh Jackson's 'The Enduring Wild: A Journey Into California's Public Lands' is a story of adventures across 41 California landscapes, with photos of beautiful places you are unlikely to have seen, in locations ranging from the Mojave Desert to the Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness in Mendocino County. Early on, the author lays out mind-bending stats: more than 618 million acres in the United States are federally owned public land and 245 million of those belong to the Bureau of Land Management. Public lands, he notes, 'are areas of land and water owned collectively by the citizens and managed by the Federal government.' These lands 'are our common ground, a gift of seismic proportions that belongs to all of us.' Drive across the United States and consider that 28% of all of that is yours. Ours. Jackson's assertion that we are all landowners is a clarion call amid a GOP-led push to sell off public land. The shadow of the current assault on public lands weighs heavy while reading this lovely book. The book has endearing origins. When Jackson could not get a reservation for weekend camping with his kids, a buddy suggested that he try the BLM. Until that moment he had never even heard of the Bureau of Land Management. Yet, 15.3% of the total landmass in California is … BLM. Jackson starts out with history: All these lands were taken from Native American peoples, and he does not overlook that BLM used to be jokingly referred to as the Bureau of Livestock and Mining. In 1976, a turnaround came via the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which built a multi-use mandate to emphasize hiking and conservation as much grazing and extraction (a.k.a. mining). This effort to soften the heavy use of public lands by for-profit individuals and companies led to the so-called Sagebrush Rebellion and the election of President Reagan. Arguably, we've been struggling with finding the multi-use balance ever after. Jackson's first BLM foray was out to the Trona Pinnacles in the Mojave Desert, where he and his two older children camped, playing in a wonderland where 'hundreds of tufa spires protrude like drip-style sand castles out of the wide-open desert floor that extend for miles in every direction,' while his wife, Kari, an E.R. nurse, stayed home with their newborn. The pandemic shutdown in 2020 inspired Kari's suggestion, 'Why don't you start going to see all these BLM lands?' Jackson's love affair with BLM lands was not immediate, as just a few miles into his next hike in the Rainbow Basin Natural Area near Barstow, he was underwhelmed, like he was missing something. A few miles later, he sat and considered a Terry Tempest Williams quote from 'Refuge': 'If the desert is holy, it is because it is a forgotten place that allows us to remember the sacred. Perhaps that is why every pilgrimage to the desert is a pilgrimage to the self.' Revisiting this quote on repeat, Jackson had an emotional shift, deciding to stop hiking and … start walking. On his next trip to the Amargosa Canyon, Jackson began by reaching out to the Amargosa Conservancy, learning about the Timbisha Shoshone people whose ancestral land this is, about past mining and dozens of plant and animal species. Committed to going at the pace of discovery, he admired the enchanting, striated geology of Rainbow Mountain, cherished creosote, mesquite and the brave diversity of desert flora and was struck by the gaze of an arrogant coyote. On his return, he found that in three hours, he had only traveled … a mile. Yet it was during this meander that his writing made a steep drop into seeing, feeling, connecting, plunging toward transcendence. A highlight of the book is a repeat trip to Central California's Carrizo Plain, first during a drought, silenced by its sere magnificence. After the heavy rains of 2022, he joined Cal Poly San Luis Obispo botanist Emma Fryer and was overcome by the delirious beauty of a superbloom, feeling like 'I had wandered into the Land of Oz.' Fryer observed that the drought was so severe that only the hardy native seed survived within the soil, releasing their beauty the moment water allowed them to come to life. Seeing the same place twice was revelatory, both familiar and completely new. It's hard to tell if the places he visits gets more beautiful over the course of the book or his capacity to appreciate them and share his joy has grown. Despite the frequent paucity of BLM cartographic resources, apparently Jackson never got lost or worried about dropping the thread of a trail. Describing his father, Jackson might as well be talking about himself: 'I have no memories of my dad being worried or fearful in unfamiliar situations.' Nevertheless, toward the end of the book, when he and his hardy father camped next to the rushing Eel River, Jackson did worry about bears breaking into their tent. Fortunately, the bears did not arrive but, inspired by William Cronon's 'The Trouble With Wilderness,' Jackson's heart opened as he realized that 'Nature' is not out there; nature is wherever we are. Back in Los Angeles taking long walks with his daughter, past bodegas and car washes, he saw jacaranda, heard owls and coyotes and realized the wild had been here all along. An urban sycamore claimed its space regardless of enclosing cement and car exhaust, as spectacular and venerable as any sycamore in the state. Can the places Jackson visited for his book endure public larceny? He is tracking the answer to this question, real time, on his Substack, where he's currently describing the shocking attempts to sell millions of acres of BLM land. 'It's been a wild few weeks for BLM lands. 540,385 acres in Nevada and Utah were on the chopping block to be sold off,' Jackson recently noted. 'Everyone was talking about the land totals — but no one was showing what the landscapes actually looked like. So, I decided to go see them.' Great advice: Bring a friend, pack water and go. Watts' writing has appeared in Earth Island Journal, New York Times motherlode blog, Sierra Magazine and local venues. Her first novel is 'Tree.'
Buzz Feed
18-06-2025
- Health
- Buzz Feed
Reviewers Say These Slides Help With Foot Pain
If you're looking for a sandal that offers both support and curb appeal, we suggest you ditch flimsy flip-flops for a stylish slide that's not only good-looking, but is said to help with arch support, chronic foot pain and even discomfort from plantar fasciitis. The Chillo slide from beloved outdoor brand Chaco is an easy slip-on shoe you can sport to the beach or pool, throw in a suitcase or wear around the house. The Chillo offers Chaco's signature adjustable 'Z'-strap and is made from an incredibly lightweight EVA base that floats in water and promises to feel nice and soft while still giving ample support to the contours of your foot. 'I have really bad plantar fasciitis,' said a Chaco reviewer named Kari. 'I bought these to wear in the house. The arch support is life-changing.'Reviewer Looloo said, 'These help me avoid hip and foot pain, and [have] good support' and reviewer JG wrote, 'Best sandals in the world, corrected my plantar facitis and heel spur pain. Love love.' Dr. Howard E. Friedman, a podiatrist board-certified by the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery, tells patients recovering from plantar fasciitis 'to wear some supportive footwear from the moment their foot hits the ground in the morning through the rest of the day. Slides with arch support are helpful since for someone getting out of bed, they are easy to slide into,' he said. While Friedman doesn't endorse any particular shoe, he acknowledged that other styles from Chaco are known for having a 'supportive arch-shaped footbed,'and it's clear from reviews that Chaco's slides offer the kind of support that can relieve some types of foot pain. Other reviewers echo the comfort and stability of these slides, with MsAng writing on Chaco's website, 'I am very pleased with my Chillos! The arch support and cushion are very comfortable. I've had a lot of pain in my feet for quite awhile. Since I've been wearing these, the pain has subsided.' On Amazon, pregnant reviewers mentioned wearing these shoes when their feet swelled, saying they like the adjustability and that the corrective footbed helped with numbness tingling from sciatic pain and sensitive arches. Like other styles of Chacos, these slides come in a wide selection of colors, from vibrant neons to monochrome neutrals. You even can find them with patterned straps to give your toes a little twinkle. This style is said to be so comfortable, it's converted people who prefer a more strapped-in sandal. 'Not usually a slides wearer, but I love these,' reviewer MnMom said on the brand's website. 'Great for around the house and out and about. Noticed a marked difference in (NO) knee and heel pain. I plan on having multiple pairs on hand!' They're not the only buyer who endorsed a bulk purchase: another Chaco reviewer, KT, called the shoes the 'best slides ever' and wrote that they 'loved the first so much I bought another pair. Go-to shoes as 'slippers' on mornings when my plantar fasciitis is flaring.' Whether you need an easy shoe to wear to the gym or are looking for vacation sandals that don't take up much suitcase space but still give you foot support, snag a pair of these stylish, affordable Chaco slides. Your wallet and your feet may thank you. Get them from Chaco for $50 (available in women's sizes 5–12 and dozens of colors and styles) or from Amazon for $24.45+ (available in women's sizes 5–12 and 23 colors and styles).
