Portrait of a Con-Artist:

March 21, 2002 7:15 AM

Portrait of a Con-Artist: Due to the efforts of the site StopAglaia! (which was posted here earlier in the year), The New Jersey Star-Ledger printed this facinating story exposing a con woman of "Kaycee Nicole" proportions, and includes an interview with the woman in question. She's impersonated Denis Leary, Henry Rollins, and the manager for Bright Eyes, and she's conned both men an women out of thousands of dollars. Sadly, the printing of this article has caused StopAglaia! to shut down, but their forum is still up, so victims can trade info. [More Inside]
posted by emptybowl (7 comments total)

I'm particularly facinated with this story, because I used to be on LambdaMOO all the time, and I knew Nancy, as "Aglaia", and Jeff Rugen, the software engineer who's story is featured prominently in this article. In fact, I was talking to both of them when all of the events in this article were happening. I remember "Aglaia" telling me about meeting Jeff, about moving to Maryland, and about how Jeff was trying to "screw" her by not moving in with her like her promised. She also told me she was pregnant with Jeff's child. I took everything she said with a grain of salt, as I do with most people I meet on the internet, but it looks like many other people weren't quite as lucky. Looking back on it now, I have to know: What was is about me that made me not con-worthy?! Am I not good enough for her?!
posted by emptybowl at 7:22 AM on March 21, 2002

Here's some links to Google caches of the original StopAglaia! site:
Main Page
Vital Stats
*anon Posts
posted by emptybowl at 7:26 AM on March 21, 2002

"I was so stupid," Rugen said.

i hate to be unsympathetic, but yes. yes you were.
posted by grabbingsand at 7:49 AM on March 21, 2002

During her past scams, Nancy posed as several different people, including an English woman, a 102-year-old African woman named GiGi, an heiress, a famous international fashion model and the Number 2 ranked fencer in France, claiming to be an Olympic hopeful. [vital stats page]

"Want to talk physics? I can do that. I've taught myself to sign. I know just enough French that people think I'm fluent. I know just enough to seem like I know everything. I'm pretty proficient in pretty much anything you can throw at me," Nusbaum said. [newhouse article]

[Looks around Metafilter...] Employers. Musicians. Academics. Linguists. Gay bikers. Filmic storytellers. Wonderchickens living in Korea. Portuguese novelists. People who seem like they know everything...

[Runs screaming from room.]
posted by rory at 8:41 AM on March 21, 2002

Uh, this is disturbing. I think I met her once (at a Lunacon, in a wheelchair). Are there any better photos anywhere?
posted by realjanetkagan at 1:39 PM on March 21, 2002

Impersonating Henry Rollins doesn't strike me as a particularly safe hobby. Then again he's a big softy when you get down to it.
posted by Settle at 4:48 PM on March 21, 2002

Metafilter: Collectively locating stupid people for quite some time now.
posted by swell at 5:39 PM on March 21, 2002