It's interesting that you mention Holmes, because I think there's an alternate interpretation of Anna Delvey (and Holmes) that answers your question: they didn'

It's interesting that you mention Holmes, because I think there's an alternate interpretation of Anna Delvey (and Holmes) that answers your question: they didn't see themselves as scammers, but rather as geniuses, and they were both so convinced of their genius that they decided "fake it until you make it" was therefore moral even if it had to be taken to the extreme. After all, if you don't "make it", how will you be able to change the world? Draper's behavior makes sense if he still sees Holmes as Holmes sees herself, as a visionary who had to make some ethical concessions for the sake of a dream. I think both of them still believe that the machines would have worked eventually, and they had to keep the hype wave going or else everything would collapse. I bet both of them could imagine a universe where the machines did end up working and their indiscretions were relegated to footnotes in gossipy Tell-Alls written 20 years from now. (Isn't there some story about Bill Gates promising software he didn't yet possess in order to close a key deal? Imagine if that didn't work out as well as it did...) Similarly, while the article paints Delvey as a scammer who just won't admit to it, I think it's possible that Delvey never saw her actions as "scamming"... Her attitude was probably a mix of egomania and extreme narcissism, something like: "banks have so much money anyway, and I was going to use it better than anyone else could." In fact, she straight-up says this at the end of the piece: > “Money, like, there’s an unlimited amount of capital in the world, you know?” Anna said to me at one point. “But there’s limited amounts of people who are talented.” I could be misreading this, but based on the previous paragraph, it seems like the author is implying that Delvey is talking about how she's so talented at deceiving people. But I don't think that's what Delvey means at all. I think she sincerely believes she's deeply and profoundly talented in a positive sense, and therefore money and power should be hers (because in a just universe, money & power accrue to the talented), and if she has to cut some corners to acquire this money and power that is rightfully hers, so be it. Same mindset as Holmes. "Fake it until you make it" can be useful in certain circumstances, but this ideology is dangerous in the hands of delusional people who are convinced that they're brilliant.