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List of impostors

An impostor (also spelled imposter) is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often through means of disguise.

Cartoon of the would-be explorer Louis de Rougemont who claimed to have had adventures in Australasia.

Their objective is usually to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering or through means of identity theft, but also often for purposes of espionage or law enforcement.

Notable impostors edit

False nationality claims edit

  • Princess Caraboo (1791–1864), Englishwoman who pretended to be a princess from a fictional island
  • Korla Pandit (1921–1998), African-American pianist/organist who pretended to be from India
  • George Psalmanazar (1679–1763), who claimed to be from Formosa
  • Micheál Mac Liammóir (1899–1978), notable actor in Ireland, born in England as Alfred Willmore but invented an Irish birth and identity

False minority national identity claims edit

False royal heritage claims edit

See also: False pretenders

 
Frits Holm (1881–1930), Danish adventurer and self-styled "Duke of Colachine"

Fraudsters edit

  • Frank Abagnale (born 1948), who passed bad checks as a fake pilot, doctor, and lawyer[8]
  • Gerald Barnbaum (1933–2018), former pharmacist who posed as a doctor for over twenty years, assuming the identities of various licensed physicians[9]
  • Alessandro Cagliostro (1743–1795), Italian adventurer and self-styled magician
  • Cassie Chadwick (1857–1907), who pretended to be Andrew Carnegie's daughter
  • Ravi Desai, (active 1996-2002), a journalist who posed as Robert Klinger, fictitious chief executive officer of BMW's North American division, in a series of articles for Slate magazine[10]
  • Belle Gibson (born 1991), an Australian alternative wellness advocate who falsely claimed to have survived multiple cancers without using conventional cancer treatments[11]
  • David Hampton (1964–2003), who pretended to be the son of Sidney Poitier
  • Joseph "Harry" Jelinek (1905–1986), who is alleged to have fraudulently sold the Karlstejn Castle to American industrialists
  • Brian Kim (born 1975/1976), lived in Christodora House in Manhattan, falsified documents identifying himself as the president-secretary of its condo association, and transferred $435,000 from the association's bank account to his own bank account[12]
  • Sante Kimes (1934-2014), impersonated various public figures and was convicted of murdering her own landlady, wealthy socialite Irene Silverman, in an apparent plot to assume Silverman's identity
  • Mandla Lamba, "fake billionaire" from South Africa who received media attention by claiming to be a successful mining tycoon.[13][14][15]
  • Victor Lustig (1890–1947), "The man who sold the Eiffel Tower. Twice."
  • Richard Allen Minsky (born 1944), who lured women into vulnerable situations by pretending to be people they knew, then lawyers representing them, and then raped them[16]
  • Arthur Orton (1834–1898), also known as the Tichborne Claimant, who claimed to be the missing heir Sir Roger Tichborne
  • Paul Palaiologos Tagaris (c. 1320/40 – after 1394), Orthodox monk, claimed to be a member of the Palaiologos dynasty, pretended to be the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, later succeeded in being named Latin Patriarch of Constantinople
  • Frederick Emerson Peters (1885–1959), U.S. celebrity impersonator and writer of bad checks
  • Gert Postel (born 1958), a mail carrier who posed as a medical doctor
  • Lobsang Rampa (1910–1981), formerly plumber Cyril Hoskins, who claimed to be possessed by the spirit of a deceased Tibetan lama and wrote a number of books based on that premise
  • James Reavis (1843–1914), master forger who used his real name but created a complex, fictitious history that pointed to him as the rightful owner of much of Arizona
  • Anna Sorokin (born 1991), posed as a fictitious wealthy heiress to fraudulently obtain loans, luxury goods, travel, and stays at exclusive hotels[17]
  • Leander Tomarkin (1895–1967), fake doctor who became the personal physician of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, and convinced Albert Einstein to assume the honorary presidency of one of his medical conferences[18]

Wartime impostors and spies edit

Many women in history have presented themselves as men in order to advance in typically male-dominated fields. There are many documented cases of this in the military during the American Civil War.[19] However their purpose was rarely for fraudulent gain. They are listed in the List of wartime cross-dressers.

Spies have often pretended to be people other than they were. One of the famous was Chevalier d'Eon (1728–1810), a French diplomat who successfully infiltrated the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia by presenting as a woman.

Military impostors edit

Historically, when military record-keeping was less accurate than today, some persons—primarily men—falsely claimed to be war veterans to obtain military pensions. Most did not make extravagant claims, because they were seeking money, not public attention that might expose their fraud. In the modern world, reasons for posing as a member of the military or exaggerating one's service record vary, but the intent is almost always to gain the respect and admiration of others.[20]

Multiple impostors edit

  • Frédéric Bourdin (born 1974), "the French Chameleon"[32]
  • Barry Bremen (1947–2011), known in the sports world as "The Great Imposter", after pretending to be an MLB umpire, an NBA All-Star, and a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, among other things
  • Ferdinand Waldo Demara (1921–1982), "The Great Impostor", who masqueraded as many people, from monks to surgeons to prison wardens
  • Christian Gerhartsreiter (born 1961), a serial impostor and convicted murderer who infamously posed as a member of the Rockefeller family and became the subject of several books[33]
  • Marvin Hewitt (born 1922), who impersonated several academics and became a university physics professor
  • Stanley Clifford Weyman (1890–1960), American multiple impostor who impersonated public officials, including the U.S. Secretary of State and various military officers
  • Laurel Rose Willson (1941–2002), who claimed to be "Lauren Stratford", a victim of satanic ritual abuse, and later as Holocaust survivor "Laura Grabowski"
  • Mamoru Samuragochi (born 1963), who claimed to be a "deaf composer", though it was later revealed that his hearing ability has already improved and most of his works were written by Takashi Niigaki, conductor of "Onimusha Soundtrack", produced by Samuragouchi.[34]

Others edit

In fiction edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Jackson, Lauren Michele (12 September 2020). "The Layered Deceptions of Jessica Krug, the Black-Studies Professor Who Hid That She Is White". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  2. ^ "Rachel Dolezal Admits She Was 'Biologically Born White' but Maintains That She Identifies as Black".
  3. ^ Lauren Lumpkin and Susan Svrluga (2020-09-03). "White GWU professor admits she falsely claimed Black identity". The Washington Post.
  4. ^ Keeler, Jacqueline (22 October 2022). "Sacheen Littlefeather was a Native American icon. Her sisters say she was an ethnic fraud". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  5. ^ Bromwich, Jonah Engel; Marcus, Ezra (August 4, 2020). "The Anonymous Professor Who Wasn't". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Jaschik, Scott (6 July 2015). "Fake Cherokee? Scholar who has made name as Cherokee is accused of not having Native American roots". www.insidehighered.com. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  7. ^ "Fake Saudi prince Anthony Gignac jailed for $8m fraud". BBC News. BBC. BBC. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  8. ^ Mullins, Luke (May 19, 2008). "How Frank Abagnale Would Swindle You". U.S. News. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  9. ^ Noble, Kenneth B. (17 April 1996). "Doctor's Specialty Turns Out to Be Masquerade". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Shafer, Jack (12 March 2002). "Who Is "Robert Klingler"?". Slate.
  11. ^ Donelly, Beau; Toscano, Nick (22 April 2015). "The Whole Pantry author Belle Gibson admits she lied about having terminal cancer". smh.com.au. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  12. ^ "CNBC pundit and hedge-fund operator at heart of $4 million Ponzi scheme". NY Daily News. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  13. ^ Hawker, Diane (Nov 7, 2010). "So young, so rich, so many questions". Independent Online. from the original on 2022-07-15. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  14. ^ Mashaba, Sibongile (May 12, 2011). "Bogus billionaire's trail of debts". SowetanLIVE. from the original on 2022-07-26. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  15. ^ Wasserman, Helena (Jul 3, 2021). "SA's 'fake billionaire' is back, now selling shares on special to Somizi's followers". Fin24. from the original on 2021-07-03. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  16. ^ Griesser, Andy (2003-02-07). . ABA Journal. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  17. ^ Ransom, Jan (May 9, 2019). "Sorokin, Who Swindled N.Y.'s Elite, Is Sentenced to 4 to 12 Years in Prison". The New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  18. ^ von Lüpke, Marc (1 November 2013). "Doktor Dreist" [Doctor Brazen]. Der Spiegel (in German).
  19. ^ Shearer, Lee (14 April 2018). "Brothers in arms?: Civil War reality predates transgender debate". Athens Banner-Herald. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  20. ^ Henry Mark Holzer (August 9, 2012). Fake Warriors: Identifying, Exposing, and Punishing Those Who Falsify Their Military Service. Madison Press. ISBN 978-0985243784.
  21. ^ Rutenberg, Jim (April 29, 2002). "At Fox News, The Colonel Who Wasn't". The New York Times.
  22. ^ Ehrenberg, Nicholas (November 11, 2005). "Fake War Stories Exposed". CBS News. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  23. ^ Burkett, B. G. (September 2, 1998). Stolen Valor : How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History (1st ed.). Verity Pr Inc. ISBN 096670360X.
  24. ^ McColl, Alexander (1 August 1996). "Full Mental Jacket". Soldier of Fortune. Vol. 21, no. 8. pp. 37–39. ISSN 0145-6784. LCCN 76647216. OCLC 2778757 – via Internet Archive.
  25. ^ John, Marshall (2004-12-07). "Ellis doesn't want to revisit his own past". Seattle Post Intelligencer. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  26. ^ Ellis, Joseph (2001-08-17). . mountholyoke.edu. Archived from the original on 2006-07-15. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
  27. ^ "Historian 'posed as a war hero'". BBC News. 3 July 2009.
  28. ^ Brian Ross and Vic Walter (September 21, 2007). "Anti-War YouTube 'Vet' Admits He Is Faker". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  29. ^ Oshinsky, David M. (March 17, 2020). "Fact from Fiction: Joseph McCarthy the Tail Gunner". HistoryNet.com. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  30. ^ Seenan, Gerard (11 April 2006). "Captain Sir Alan KBE - call-centre worker". the Guardian.
  31. ^ "Micah Wright Comes Clean, Ranger Story a Hoax". CBR. 2 May 2004.
  32. ^ Laura Plitt, producer, "Frederic Bourdin – the man who changed his identity 500 times," BBC News, 19 October 2012.
  33. ^ Hailey Branson-Potts (August 15, 2013). "Rockefeller impostor gets 27 years in prison; maintains innocence". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  34. ^ "'Japan's Beethoven' Samuragochi paid hearing composer to write music". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  35. ^ NPR Staff (March 26, 2012). "The Amazing, Untrue Story Of A Sept. 11 Survivor". NPR.org.
  36. ^ David W. Dunlap and Serge F. Kovalevski (September 27, 2007). "In a 9/11 Survival Tale, the Pieces Just Don't Fit". The New York Times. Retrieved September 27, 2007. Tania Head's story, as shared over the years with reporters, students, friends and hundreds of visitors to ground zero, was a remarkable account of both life and death.
  37. ^ "'MI5' conman wins sentence appeal". BBC. 25 April 2007.
  38. ^ "Spanish Nazi camp 'survivor' lied". A leading representative of Holocaust survivors in Spain has admitted to being "an impostor". BBC. 12 May 2005.
  39. ^ Kovaleski, Serge F. (September 16, 2015). "Steve Rannazzisi, Comedian Who Told of 9/11 Escape, Admits He Lied". The New York Times. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  40. ^ Day, Elizabeth (5 September 2009). "I love you Phillip Morris: a conman's story". the Guardian.
  41. ^ Ashford, Grace; Gold, Michael (December 19, 2022). "Who Is Rep.-Elect George Santos? His Résumé May Be Largely Fiction". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  42. ^ Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace (December 26, 2022). "George Santos Admits to Lying About College and Work History". The New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  43. ^ Lapppin, Elana (6 June 1999). "The Boy Who had Two Lives". The Independent.
  44. ^ Bilefsky, Dan; Porter, Catherine; Austen, Ian (April 20, 2020). "Police Seek Motive for Canada Killing Spree by Denture Fitter". The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

External links edit

  • The Fake Warrior Project, POW Network

list, impostors, impostor, imposter, redirect, here, other, uses, impostor, disambiguation, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, . Impostor and Imposter redirect here For other uses see Impostor disambiguation This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources List of impostors news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message An impostor also spelled imposter is a person who pretends to be somebody else often through means of disguise Cartoon of the would be explorer Louis de Rougemont who claimed to have had adventures in Australasia Their objective is usually to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering or through means of identity theft but also often for purposes of espionage or law enforcement Contents 1 Notable impostors 1 1 False nationality claims 1 2 False minority national identity claims 1 3 False royal heritage claims 1 4 Fraudsters 1 5 Wartime impostors and spies 1 6 Military impostors 1 7 Multiple impostors 1 8 Others 2 In fiction 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksNotable impostors editFalse nationality claims edit Princess Caraboo 1791 1864 Englishwoman who pretended to be a princess from a fictional island Korla Pandit 1921 1998 African American pianist organist who pretended to be from India George Psalmanazar 1679 1763 who claimed to be from Formosa Micheal Mac Liammoir 1899 1978 notable actor in Ireland born in England as Alfred Willmore but invented an Irish birth and identityFalse minority national identity claims edit Joseph Boyden born 1966 Canadian writer who falsely claimed First Nations ancestry H G Carrillo 1960 2020 American writer and assistant professor of English at George Washington University who claimed to be a Cuban immigrant despite having been born in Detroit to American parents 1 Asa Earl Carter 1925 1979 who under the alias of supposedly Cherokee writer Forrest Carter authored several books including The Education of Little Tree Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance 1890 1932 an African American who claimed to be the son of a Blackfoot chief Iron Eyes Cody 1904 1999 Italian American actor the crying Indian chief in the Keep America Beautiful public service announcements in the early 1970s who claimed to be of Cherokee Cree ancestry Helen Darville born 1972 Australian writer who falsely claimed Ukrainian ancestry as part of the basis of her novel The Hand that Signed the Paper about a Ukrainian family who collaborated with Nazis in the Holocaust Rachel Dolezal born 1977 former president of the NAACP in Spokane Washington who claimed African American heritage despite being born to white parents 2 Grey Owl 1888 1938 born Archibald Belaney an Englishman who took on the identity of an Ojibwe Jamake Highwater 1931 2001 writer and journalist born Jackie Marks into an Ashkenazi family who later claimed he was a Cherokee American Indian Daniel Lewis James 1911 1988 novelist who wrote under the name Danny Santiago Jessica A Krug aka Jess La Bombalera born 1982 former associate professor at George Washington University who falsely claimed African African American and Caribbean American heritage throughout her career despite being born to Jewish parents 3 Sacheen Littlefeather Marie Louise Cruz 1946 2022 model and activist who rejected Marlon Brando s Academy Award at the 1973 Oscars out of protest Her Apache Indian impersonation was not made public until her funeral when her sisters asserted their Mexican descent 4 BethAnn McLaughlin neuroscientist who impersonated a bisexual Native American using the Twitter handle Sciencing bi 5 Red Thunder Cloud 1919 1996 an African American who claimed to be the last speaker of the Catawba language Andrea Smith an American academic feminist and activist against violence who claimed Cherokee identity without proof or acceptance by the Cherokee nation 6 Two Moon Meridas c 1888 1933 seller of herbal medicine who claimed that he was of Sioux birthFalse royal heritage claims edit See also False pretenders nbsp Frits Holm 1881 1930 Danish adventurer and self styled Duke of Colachine Maddess Aiort claimed to have been Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia Granny Alina claimed to have been Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia Michelle Anches claimed to have been Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia Anna Anderson 1896 1984 who may have really believed she was the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia Bardiya d 522 BC ancient ruler of Persia widely regarded as genuine but was claimed to be an imposter by his successor Mary Baynton fl c 1533 pretended to be Henry VIII s daughter Mary at a time many considered that her father should be deposed in her favour Bhawal case concerning a resurrected Indian prince who may have genuinely believed he was who he claimed to be Natalya Bilikhodze 1900 2000 appeared in the year 1995 and went to Russia in the year 2000 where she tried to claim the Romanov fortune as Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia Marga Boodts claimed to have been Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia Helga de la Brache 1817 1885 claimed to have been the secret legitimate daughter of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and Frederica of Baden Alexis Brimeyer 1946 1995 Belgian who claimed connection to various European royal houses Mary Carleton 1642 1673 who was amongst other things a false princess and bigamist Count Dante 1939 1975 is the assumed name of John Keehan who claimed to be descended from Spanish nobility In his campaign to promote his system of martial arts he also claimed victories in various secret deathmatches in Asia and mercenary activity in Cuba none of which was proven Suzanna Catharina de Graaff 1905 1968 was a Dutch woman who claimed to be the fifth daughter of Nicholas and Alexandra born in 1903 when Alexandra was reported to have had a hysterical pregnancy 13 There are no official or private records of Alexandra giving birth to any child at this time Pseudo Constantine Diogenes pretended to be a son of Byzantine emperor Romanos IV Diogenes False Dmitriy I c 1581 1606 False Dmitriy II died 1610 and False Dmitriy III died 1612 who all impersonated the son of Ivan the Terrible Harry Domela 1905 after 1978 who pretended to be an heir to the German throne Anna Ekelof fl 1765 claimed to have been Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden Anthony Gignac 1970 falsely took on the identity of Saudi prince Khalid bin Al Saud to entrap victims in investment scams and other schemes currently serving an 18 year jail sentence 7 Michael Goleniewski 1922 1993 was a CIA agent who in the year 1959 claimed to be Tsarevich Alexei of Russia Anna Gyllander fl 1659 claimed to have been queen Christina of Sweden Anatoly Ionov claims to be the son of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia Tile Kolup d 1285 also known as Dietrich Holzschuh was an impostor who in 1284 began to pretend to be the Emperor Frederick II Eugenio Lascorz 1886 1962 who claimed connection to the royal house of the Byzantine Empire Terence Francis MacCarthy born 1957 styled himself MacCarthy Mor and Prince of Desmond Scepan Mali d 1773 who claimed to be Peter III of Russia and managed to rule Montenegro False Margaret c 1260 1301 who impersonated the Maid of Norway Pierre Plantard 1920 2000 the mastermind behind the Priory of Sion hoax who claimed to be Merovingian a pretender to the throne of France Princess Tarakanova claimed to be the daughter of Alexei Razumovsky and Empress Elizabeth of Russia Yemelyan Pugachev c 1742 1775 who claimed to be Peter III of Russia Raiktor fl 1081 an Eastern Orthodox monk who assumed the identity of Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Frederick Rolfe 1860 1913 who is better known as Baron Corvo Lambert Simnel c 1477 c 1525 pretender to the throne of England Eugenia Smith 1899 1997 another woman who claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia Charles Stopford claimed to be the Earl of Buckingham Heino Tammet claimed to be Tsarevich Alexei of Russia He died in 1977 in Vancouver Canada Larissa Tudor appeared strikingly similar to Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia but never actually claimed to be the former grand duchess Many people who knew Larissa strongly suspected that she was the former grand duchess of Russia Nadezhda Vasilyeva appeared in the 1920s in Russia and claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia She died in a psychiatric ward in 1971 in Kazan Russia Perkin Warbeck c 1474 1499 pretender to the throne of EnglandFraudsters edit Frank Abagnale born 1948 who passed bad checks as a fake pilot doctor and lawyer 8 Gerald Barnbaum 1933 2018 former pharmacist who posed as a doctor for over twenty years assuming the identities of various licensed physicians 9 Alessandro Cagliostro 1743 1795 Italian adventurer and self styled magician Cassie Chadwick 1857 1907 who pretended to be Andrew Carnegie s daughter Ravi Desai active 1996 2002 a journalist who posed as Robert Klinger fictitious chief executive officer of BMW s North American division in a series of articles for Slate magazine 10 Belle Gibson born 1991 an Australian alternative wellness advocate who falsely claimed to have survived multiple cancers without using conventional cancer treatments 11 David Hampton 1964 2003 who pretended to be the son of Sidney Poitier Joseph Harry Jelinek 1905 1986 who is alleged to have fraudulently sold the Karlstejn Castle to American industrialists Brian Kim born 1975 1976 lived in Christodora House in Manhattan falsified documents identifying himself as the president secretary of its condo association and transferred 435 000 from the association s bank account to his own bank account 12 Sante Kimes 1934 2014 impersonated various public figures and was convicted of murdering her own landlady wealthy socialite Irene Silverman in an apparent plot to assume Silverman s identity Mandla Lamba fake billionaire from South Africa who received media attention by claiming to be a successful mining tycoon 13 14 15 Victor Lustig 1890 1947 The man who sold the Eiffel Tower Twice Richard Allen Minsky born 1944 who lured women into vulnerable situations by pretending to be people they knew then lawyers representing them and then raped them 16 Arthur Orton 1834 1898 also known as the Tichborne Claimant who claimed to be the missing heir Sir Roger Tichborne Paul Palaiologos Tagaris c 1320 40 after 1394 Orthodox monk claimed to be a member of the Palaiologos dynasty pretended to be the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem later succeeded in being named Latin Patriarch of Constantinople Frederick Emerson Peters 1885 1959 U S celebrity impersonator and writer of bad checks Gert Postel born 1958 a mail carrier who posed as a medical doctor Lobsang Rampa 1910 1981 formerly plumber Cyril Hoskins who claimed to be possessed by the spirit of a deceased Tibetan lama and wrote a number of books based on that premise James Reavis 1843 1914 master forger who used his real name but created a complex fictitious history that pointed to him as the rightful owner of much of Arizona Anna Sorokin born 1991 posed as a fictitious wealthy heiress to fraudulently obtain loans luxury goods travel and stays at exclusive hotels 17 Leander Tomarkin 1895 1967 fake doctor who became the personal physician of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and convinced Albert Einstein to assume the honorary presidency of one of his medical conferences 18 Wartime impostors and spies edit Many women in history have presented themselves as men in order to advance in typically male dominated fields There are many documented cases of this in the military during the American Civil War 19 However their purpose was rarely for fraudulent gain They are listed in the List of wartime cross dressers Spies have often pretended to be people other than they were One of the famous was Chevalier d Eon 1728 1810 a French diplomat who successfully infiltrated the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia by presenting as a woman Military impostors edit Main article Military impostors Historically when military record keeping was less accurate than today some persons primarily men falsely claimed to be war veterans to obtain military pensions Most did not make extravagant claims because they were seeking money not public attention that might expose their fraud In the modern world reasons for posing as a member of the military or exaggerating one s service record vary but the intent is almost always to gain the respect and admiration of others 20 Joseph A Cafasso born 1956 former Fox News military analyst who claimed to have been a highly decorated U S Army Special Forces soldier and Vietnam War veteran but actually served in the army for only 44 days in 1976 21 Brian Dennehy 1938 2020 American actor who enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1958 served in Okinawa and never saw combat but later falsely claimed to have been wounded in action in the Vietnam War 22 23 George Dupre 1903 1982 who claimed that he worked for the Special Operations Executive SOE and the French Resistance during World War II WWII Dupre served in World War II but he was never in France nor with the SOE Frank Dux born 1956 Canadian American martial artist who served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve in non combat roles but claimed in his memoir The Secret Man that he had fought in covert Central Intelligence Agency CIA special operations in Southeast Asia Nicaragua the Iran Iraq War and the Gulf War his claims drew a rare public denial from the CIA describing them as preposterous 24 Joseph Ellis born 1943 American professor and historian who claimed a tour of duty in the Vietnam War but who actually obtained an academic deferral of service and then taught history at West Point 25 26 Jack Livesey born 1954 British historian military advisor on film productions and author who claimed to have a distinguished twenty year career in the Parachute Regiment but actually served as a cook in the Army Catering Corps for three years 27 Jesse Macbeth born 1984 anti war activist who claimed to be a United States Army Ranger and veteran of the Iraq War but was actually discharged from the army before completing basic training 28 Joseph McCarthy 1908 1957 U S senator who served in the Marine Corps during World War II as a Douglas SBD Dauntless tail gunner broadly embellished his military accomplishments notably by exaggerating his number of combat missions flown falsifying official records to reflect these claims obtaining combat decorations based on the falsified documents and claiming that he broke his leg in action when the injury was sustained in a non combat stairwell fall 29 Alan Mcilwraith born 1978 a call centre worker from Glasgow who among other things claimed that he was a decorated captain in the British Army he never served in the military 30 Eric von Stroheim film director The Merry Widow 1925 and actor Sunset Boulevard 1950 who claimed to have been an Austrian imperial military officer but never served in the military He did portray German officers on screen Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt 1849 1922 German impostor who masqueraded as a Prussian officer in 1906 and became famous as The Captain of Kopenick Micah Wright born 1974 anti war activist who claimed to have been an Army Ranger involved in the United States invasion of Panama and several special operations he was a Reserve Officers Training Corps student in college but never served in the military 31 Multiple impostors edit Frederic Bourdin born 1974 the French Chameleon 32 Barry Bremen 1947 2011 known in the sports world as The Great Imposter after pretending to be an MLB umpire an NBA All Star and a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader among other things Ferdinand Waldo Demara 1921 1982 The Great Impostor who masqueraded as many people from monks to surgeons to prison wardens Christian Gerhartsreiter born 1961 a serial impostor and convicted murderer who infamously posed as a member of the Rockefeller family and became the subject of several books 33 Marvin Hewitt born 1922 who impersonated several academics and became a university physics professor Stanley Clifford Weyman 1890 1960 American multiple impostor who impersonated public officials including the U S Secretary of State and various military officers Laurel Rose Willson 1941 2002 who claimed to be Lauren Stratford a victim of satanic ritual abuse and later as Holocaust survivor Laura Grabowski Mamoru Samuragochi born 1963 who claimed to be a deaf composer though it was later revealed that his hearing ability has already improved and most of his works were written by Takashi Niigaki conductor of Onimusha Soundtrack produced by Samuragouchi 34 Others edit Bampfylde Moore Carew 1693 1759 a Devonshire man whose popular Life and Adventures included picaresque episodes of vagabond life including his claim to have been elected King of the Beggars Alan Conway 1934 1998 who impersonated Stanley Kubrick during the early 1990s Misha Defonseca born 1937 Belgian Catholic woman who took the identity of a Jewish Holocaust survivor Alicia Esteve Head born 1973 Spanish woman who claimed to be a survivor of the September 11 attacks under the name Tania Head 35 36 James Frey born 1969 American writer who presented himself as a reformed convict and drug addict who in actuality had no criminal record Martin Gray 1921 2016 Polish Jew who falsely claimed to have been imprisoned in Treblinka extermination camp Kaspar Hauser 1812 1833 German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell Robert Hendy Freegard born 1971 English barman car salesman and conman who masqueraded as a MI5 agent 37 James Hogue born 1959 who entered Princeton University by posing as a self taught orphan Paul Jordan Smith 1885 1971 father of the hoax art movement called Disumbrationism Rahul Ligma who pretended to be a fired Twitter employee pranking major media outlets in 2022 Enric Marco 1921 2022 Spaniard who claimed to have been a prisoner in the Nazi German concentration camps Mauthausen and Flossenburg in World War II 38 Brian MacKinnon born c 1963 who at the age of thirty attended Bearsden Academy by posing as a teenager Rosemarie Pence born 1938 American woman who falsely claimed to have been a German Jew imprisoned at Dachau concentration camp and told her stories in an authorized biography Hannah From Dachau to the Olympics and Beyond Stephen Rannazzisi born 1978 American actor and comedian who claimed to be a survivor of the September 11 attacks 39 Steven Jay Russell born 1957 who has impersonated judges and a doctor among others and is known for escaping from prison multiple times 40 George Santos born 1988 Brazilian American elected to the U S House of Representatives in 2022 claiming to be a college educated financier philanthropist and real estate investor as well as Jewish and the grandson of Holocaust survivors who later admitted that he fabricated most of his resume 41 42 Arnaud du Tilh 1524 1560 who took the place of Martin Guerre in the mid 16th century and lived with Guerre s wife and son for three years before being discovered when Guerre returned Donald J Watt 1918 2000 Australian soldier who claimed to have been a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz concentration camp Binjamin Wilkomirski born 1941 who adopted a constructed identity as a Holocaust survivor and published author 43 Gabriel Wortman 1968 2020 Canadian denturist who masqueraded as a police officer and drove a bogus Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser while perpetrating the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks 44 In fiction editMain page Category Fictional impostorsSee also editCatfishing Charlatan Disability pretender Famous Impostors 1910 book by Bram Stoker Miriam Coles Harris Identity theft Impersonator Impostor syndrome Messiah claimant Political decoy PoseurReferences edit Jackson Lauren Michele 12 September 2020 The Layered Deceptions of Jessica Krug the Black Studies Professor Who Hid That She Is White The New Yorker Retrieved 2020 09 13 Rachel Dolezal Admits She Was Biologically Born White but Maintains That She Identifies as Black Lauren Lumpkin and Susan Svrluga 2020 09 03 White GWU professor admits she falsely claimed Black identity The Washington Post Keeler Jacqueline 22 October 2022 Sacheen Littlefeather was a Native American icon Her sisters say she was an ethnic fraud San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved 23 October 2022 Bromwich Jonah Engel Marcus Ezra August 4 2020 The Anonymous Professor Who Wasn t The New York Times Jaschik Scott 6 July 2015 Fake Cherokee Scholar who has made name as Cherokee is accused of not having Native American roots www insidehighered com Retrieved 2020 09 10 Fake Saudi prince Anthony Gignac jailed for 8m fraud BBC News BBC BBC 1 June 2019 Retrieved 6 August 2022 Mullins Luke May 19 2008 How Frank Abagnale Would Swindle You U S News Retrieved February 14 2011 Noble Kenneth B 17 April 1996 Doctor s Specialty Turns Out to Be Masquerade The New York Times Shafer Jack 12 March 2002 Who Is Robert Klingler Slate Donelly Beau Toscano Nick 22 April 2015 The Whole Pantry author Belle Gibson admits she lied about having terminal cancer smh com au Retrieved 22 April 2015 CNBC pundit and hedge fund operator at heart of 4 million Ponzi scheme NY Daily News Retrieved October 13 2014 Hawker Diane Nov 7 2010 So young so rich so many questions Independent Online Archived from the original on 2022 07 15 Retrieved 2022 07 15 Mashaba Sibongile May 12 2011 Bogus billionaire s trail of debts SowetanLIVE Archived from the original on 2022 07 26 Retrieved 2022 07 26 Wasserman Helena Jul 3 2021 SA s fake billionaire is back now selling shares on special to Somizi s followers Fin24 Archived from the original on 2021 07 03 Retrieved 2022 07 15 Griesser Andy 2003 02 07 Sex Under Duress Cal Court Upholds Rape Conviction for Ruse to Obtain Sex ABA Journal Archived from the original on August 21 2008 Retrieved 2010 06 27 Ransom Jan May 9 2019 Sorokin Who Swindled N Y s Elite Is Sentenced to 4 to 12 Years in Prison The New York Times Retrieved July 11 2022 von Lupke Marc 1 November 2013 Doktor Dreist Doctor Brazen Der Spiegel in German Shearer Lee 14 April 2018 Brothers in arms Civil War reality predates transgender debate Athens Banner Herald Retrieved 18 April 2018 Henry Mark Holzer August 9 2012 Fake Warriors Identifying Exposing and Punishing Those Who Falsify Their Military Service Madison Press ISBN 978 0985243784 Rutenberg Jim April 29 2002 At Fox News The Colonel Who Wasn t The New York Times Ehrenberg Nicholas November 11 2005 Fake War Stories Exposed CBS News Retrieved 18 December 2014 Burkett B G September 2 1998 Stolen Valor How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History 1st ed Verity Pr Inc ISBN 096670360X McColl Alexander 1 August 1996 Full Mental Jacket Soldier of Fortune Vol 21 no 8 pp 37 39 ISSN 0145 6784 LCCN 76647216 OCLC 2778757 via Internet Archive John Marshall 2004 12 07 Ellis doesn t want to revisit his own past Seattle Post Intelligencer Retrieved 2008 07 08 Ellis Joseph 2001 08 17 Further Statement of Joseph J Ellis mountholyoke edu Archived from the original on 2006 07 15 Retrieved 2006 08 04 Historian posed as a war hero BBC News 3 July 2009 Brian Ross and Vic Walter September 21 2007 Anti War YouTube Vet Admits He Is Faker ABC News Retrieved 2007 09 22 Oshinsky David M March 17 2020 Fact from Fiction Joseph McCarthy the Tail Gunner HistoryNet com Retrieved July 14 2022 Seenan Gerard 11 April 2006 Captain Sir Alan KBE call centre worker the Guardian Micah Wright Comes Clean Ranger Story a Hoax CBR 2 May 2004 Laura Plitt producer Frederic Bourdin the man who changed his identity 500 times BBC News 19 October 2012 Hailey Branson Potts August 15 2013 Rockefeller impostor gets 27 years in prison maintains innocence Los Angeles Times Retrieved August 15 2013 Japan s Beethoven Samuragochi paid hearing composer to write music The Guardian Guardian News and Media Limited 5 February 2014 Retrieved 6 February 2014 NPR Staff March 26 2012 The Amazing Untrue Story Of A Sept 11 Survivor NPR org David W Dunlap and Serge F Kovalevski September 27 2007 In a 9 11 Survival Tale the Pieces Just Don t Fit The New York Times Retrieved September 27 2007 Tania Head s story as shared over the years with reporters students friends and hundreds of visitors to ground zero was a remarkable account of both life and death MI5 conman wins sentence appeal BBC 25 April 2007 Spanish Nazi camp survivor lied A leading representative of Holocaust survivors in Spain has admitted to being an impostor BBC 12 May 2005 Kovaleski Serge F September 16 2015 Steve Rannazzisi Comedian Who Told of 9 11 Escape Admits He Lied The New York Times Retrieved September 16 2015 Day Elizabeth 5 September 2009 I love you Phillip Morris a conman s story the Guardian Ashford Grace Gold Michael December 19 2022 Who Is Rep Elect George Santos His Resume May Be Largely Fiction The New York Times Archived from the original on December 22 2022 Retrieved December 19 2022 Gold Michael Ashford Grace December 26 2022 George Santos Admits to Lying About College and Work History The New York Times Retrieved December 27 2022 Lapppin Elana 6 June 1999 The Boy Who had Two Lives The Independent Bilefsky Dan Porter Catherine Austen Ian April 20 2020 Police Seek Motive for Canada Killing Spree by Denture Fitter The New York Times Retrieved July 13 2022 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Impostors The Fake Warrior Project POW Network Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title List of impostors amp oldid 1174422798, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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