Notorious Jewel Thief Busted Again

America's most elegant jewel thief may be up to her old tricks again. Doris Payne, who dresses like a wealthy heiress, has just been busted, only three months after getting out of prison.

The charge? You guessed it, pulling off a jewel heist.

A jeweler says Payne walked into his store in Palm Desert, California, looking like a classy and elegantly dressed elderly lady and said she was shopping for a ring. He showed her a $22,000 ring. He says she was so slippery, he didn't notice the ring was gone until the next day.

83-year-old Payne has now been charged with felony larceny.

Believe it or not, the woman who convinced jewelers she was a fabulously wealthy heiress actually living in a $79-a-night motel. She is said to be "very desperate financially."

Her lawyer told INSIDE EDITION, "Once you have a felony record and once you are known as a thief, it is very hard to get a legitimate job at, let's say, a jewelery store. Who is going to hire her?"

She has pulled her phony-heiress scam all over the world. She has a string of arrests in Las Vegas, San Diego, Santa Monica and overseas in London, Paris, Milan, and Tokyo.

INSIDE EDITION spoke to Payne in jail in San Diego in 2011 where she said, “I guess I became obsessed with dressing up.”

Payne says she was inspired to become an international jewel thief after watching The Pink Panther and To Catch a Thief. There was even talk that Halle Berry would play her in a movie.

Now, it seems like another businessman has found out the hard way that looks can be deceiving.