A Minneapolis woman who grew up with Prince made millions by hacking into banks.
Tanya Smith, at the age of 20 in the 1980s, amassed millions by breaking into bank computer systems as part of a fraud scheme.
In her new book, due out later this month, Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System — and Pocketed $40 Million, Smith details the crimes that landed her in prison for more than 13 years.
The book describes her youth, in which she mentions the name of a friend’s big brother, who is rock star Prince. It also covers her time behind bars and her daring escape in 1988.
While on trial for her crimes, Smith devised a soap operatic twist by bringing her twin sister to trial and challenging eyewitnesses to tell them apart, in a clever attempt to cast doubt on the jury.
Tanya Smith made millions by breaking into bank computer systems as part of a fraud scheme in the 1980s at the age of 20
Tanya and her sister Tamara Jo accused each other of fraud, until a voting expert testified that they were both involved.
The twins called bank employees and convinced them to release hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, claiming they had wired money to cover the costs.
According to the Star Tribune, a jury found her guilty on all 37 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and credit card fraud.
In her new book, out later this month and available here, Smith details her life and crimes
Her twin sister was found guilty on virtually the same charges, and Tanya was sent to a West Virginia prison from which she escaped in 1988.
Speaking with the Star tribune Before its release, Smith told the outlet that she was able to hack into banking networks because her “brain just worked.”
She added: ‘Somehow my brain gets going and I can figure things out. I can make it happen. I’ve always been that way.
“If someone has a problem and needs help, I can probably help them come up with a strategy.”
During her interrogation by Minneapolis police, who did not believe she was smart enough to commit the crimes, she told the newspaper that it was the first time she had experienced racism.
Smith said, “I grew up in North Minneapolis, I never experienced racism. My friends were all races, all religions.
‘The first time I encountered racism was when I was in that interrogation room.
“That was the turning point for me. I was always trying to help other people, but then I thought, ‘Okay, let me show you how smart this black woman is.'”
A jury found her guilty on all 37 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and credit card fraud
When asked to talk about Prince, she revealed that she was good friends with his younger sister Tyka.
She added: ‘Prince was just — we knew he had talent. We saw him all these instruments since he was very young.
“But he was just Tyka’s brother. He was always a nice person. As we got older, I noticed he got a lot better.
An excerpt from the book she released to the media shows that she ridiculed the star in his younger years, describing him as “not much of a talker.”
It says: ‘The Nelsons lived six blocks from us. Taryn [Tanya’s twin] and I would often pack up our Barbie dolls and go to Tyka’s to play.
‘Tyka was born in 1960, like us, and had a beautiful singing voice. Her parents were both jazz musicians.
Her father, John, played piano and used the stage name Prince Rogers; her mother, Mattie, was a singer.
Here a young prince is seen in 1970, with CBS station WCCO unveiling the clip in 2022 after what they described as a stroke of luck
Smith revealed she was good friends with Prince’s younger sister Tyka, seen here in the 1984 film Purple Rain
‘There was always music in their house, especially in the basement, where her big brother would play drums or keyboard.
She remembers how their mother would always tell them to go to the basement, where Prince would play his drums, if it got too loud, much to the chagrin of their older brother.
Smith writes: After a few more screams from his mother, Prince got really angry and stomped up the stairs. He wasn’t much of a talker, but his icy grin let us know he was pissed.
“We liked to tease Prince. Even when we didn’t feel like playing Barbies, we would push Tyka’s mom to chase him out of the basement.”
‘He had written a song to tease us called “Lippy Lippy Lou,” about a naughty girl with big lips. I was too angry to understand the words, but I still remember the funky beat of the song. All his pounding on the drums and keyboard paid off.’
She also writes in her book that at age 13, she bought a plane ticket to fly to Michael Jackson’s house and demanded to meet him.
Prince sold more than 100 million records before his death in 2016 at age 57 after accidentally overdosing on fentanyl.
Smith now lives in Los Angeles, where she cares for the homeless and works part-time in customer service, according to the outlet.
She told the Star Tribune that her daughter influenced her to write the book after coming across newspaper clippings about her mother a few years ago.
Her publisher has since hinted that the book may also be made into a film.