Bertha Heyman

[1][4] Contemporary sources described her as "a stout gross looking woman", or alternatively as having a "somewhat pleasing face" or "a lady of the same smart appearance and engaging manners.

[1]Heyman's typical scheme involved conning money out of men by pretending to be a wealthy woman who was unable to access her fortune.

"[5] Heyman told The New York Times in 1883 that she was only interested in getting money, not in having or spending it, and claimed that she gave the bulk of her ill-gotten funds to the poor.

"The moment I discover a man's a fool I let him drop, but I delight in getting into the confidence and pockets of men who think they can't be 'skinned.'

Heyman then told him she needed to borrow some money to obtain the sum that was due to her from her agent, and furthered the deception by taking him to a large house she claimed to own, as evidence of her wealth.

[1] She stood trial in June 1881 for stealing $250 and two gold watches from an elderly woman she boarded with in Staten Island, but was acquitted.

[1] While serving time in prison on Blackwell's Island, she managed to befriend a man and con him out of his life savings of $900[1] (the equivalent of $20,700 in 2011 dollars[7]).