Impostor

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An impostor or imposter is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering, but just as often for purposes of espionage or law enforcement.

False pretenders to various thrones used to be common. Numerous men claimed they were the Dauphin, the heir to the French throne who disappeared during the French Revolution, and there were three false Dimitris who were serious pretenders to the throne of Russia. Other notable royal pretenders include Perkin Warbeck, Anna Anderson, and, more recently, Robert Brown, who claims to be the son of Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend (an RAF officer).[1] The case of Anna Anderson is unusual in that it is believed that her claim to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia was the work of a third party, as she was not considered to be in sound mind. It also differs from many other impostures in that although hard, irrefutable scientific proof has arisen making her (or the third party's) claim without a doubt false, many still refuse to discount it.

Very daring impostors may pretend to be someone else who really exists, although the rapidity of modern news coverage has made this difficult in the case of notable individuals. Usually, however, impostors simply take on a new and completely fabricated identity, misrepresenting their financial status, educational status, social status, family background and, in some cases, gender. Impostors are usually aware of not being who they say they are. However, there are borderline cases who may end up believing their own tall tales, and some (often children or those suffering from a mental illness such as dementia or schizophrenia, as in the case of Anna Anderson) whose imposture may be the creation of a third party. People may make false claims about their past or background without being full-blown impostors; common false claims include having seen military action and involvement in well-known disasters such as the sinking of the RMS Titanic or the September 11, 2001, attacks. It is sometimes said that if every person who claimed to have "just missed" the Titanic's departure had been on board, the ship would have sunk like a lead weight in Southampton Harbour.

Many temporary impostors are criminals who maintain a façade temporarily to defraud their victims (such as Wilhelm Voigt). Others, such as US prankster Joey Skaggs, commit an imposture as a prank or to make a point of some kind. The latter usually reveal the truth sooner or later. Still others, such as John Howard Griffin, have adopted other identities for purposes of research, investigation or experiment. Although impostors usually misrepresent their backgrounds, their intentions may or may not be criminal as such. They may wish to start afresh with a new identity or "go native"; i.e. adopt the identity and customs of other people. John List is an example of a criminal who adopted a new identity in order to evade justice; in List's case, he was wanted for the mass murder of his entire family, including his three young children.

Women have masqueraded as men to obtain privileges only men can have or to work in male-dominated professions. Some have fought as men; examples are known from the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War.

An organization or individual who has been fooled may keep quiet to avoid embarrassment; this may allow the impostor to evade disclosure.

Contents

[edit] Exposing impostors

In 1910 Bram Stoker (the author of Dracula), published a book of nonfiction called Famous Impostors which deals with the subject of exposing various impostors and hoaxes. A complete PDF version of the book can be downloaded from Bram Stoker Online.[2]

[edit] Notable impostors

[edit] Fraudsters

[edit] Exotic impostors

[edit] Royal and aristocratic impostors

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

[edit] Academic impostors

  • Dr Charlotte Bach, a fringe evolutionary theorist who was neither a doctor nor a woman.
  • Marvin Hewitt, who became a university professor without any credentials.
  • James Hogue, who most famously entered Princeton University by posing as a self-taught orphan.
  • Marilee Jones, Dean of Admissions at MIT and best-selling author who claimed advanced degrees in science fields. After ten years in the post, she was revealed to have only a high school diploma.
  • Brian MacKinnon, who went back to being a teenager in order to re-enter medical school.
  • Timothy Leslie McCormack, bogus aircraft engineer who personally conducted or signed off on dozens of maintenance checks on Qantas planes before being discovered. He had only passed one basic exam, and later was found to have forged character references in order to receive a lesser sentence.[3] [4] [5]
  • Lana Nguyen, who became a university professor with the credentials of her husband. She resigned when students complained of her lack of knowledge on the subject she taught.[6]
  • Adam Wheeler, who transferred to Harvard University by pretending to attend M.I.T. and to have graduated from Phillips Academy, and submitted false SAT scores.[7]

[edit] People who "went native"

[edit] Multiple impostors

[edit] Women who lived as men

Many women in history have presented themselves as men in order to advance in typically male-dominated fields. Not all were transgender in the current sense. See also: Crossdressing during wartime.

[edit] Military impostors

People who have never served in the military have claimed service, often with decorations or membership in highly selective units, while others who have actual military service have embellished or exaggerated their accomplishments.

[edit] Others

  • Bampfylde Moore Carew, 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, who impersonated Stanley Kubrick during the early 1990s.
  • Chevalier d'Eon, who lived the second half of his life as a woman.
  • Anoushirvan D. Fahkran, a 27-year-old Iranian porn actor who legally changed his name to Jonathan Taylor Spielberg and posed as the 14-year-old nephew of legendary Hollywood director Steven Spielberg to enrol in high school.
  • Lewis Peter "Buddy" Morgan, who started impersonating Randy Meisner, the former bass player of the Eagles in 1988. His identity was not conclusively revealed until 1997, after which he was arrested and spent 16 months in jail, but upon his release continued his charade and was still doing so as of 2006.
  • Robert Hendy-Freegard, who posed as an MI5 officer.
  • John Howard Griffin, who darkened his skin and travelled in the American South as a black man in 1959 to write Black Like Me.
  • Pavel Jerdanowitch, the father of the Disumbrationist movement.
  • Ashida Kim, believed by many to be Caucasian author and self proclaimed ninja Radford Davis (alternate pen name Christopher Hunter), who wrote numerous books on ninjutsu during the '70s and '80s, noted for refusing to provide details about his teachers, or the lineage of the martial art in which he claims expertise.
  • Enric Marco, who presided over an association of Spanish survivors of the Nazi camps when he went to Germany to work in the Nazi war industry.
  • Guerdwich Montimere, a 22-year-old man who posed as homeless 16-year-old orphan Jerry Joseph and became the star of the Permian Panthers high school basketball team.[15]
  • Louis de Rougemont, who claimed to be an explorer.
  • Steven Jay Russell, who has impersonated judges and a doctor among others.
  • Treva Throneberry, a 31-year-old woman who became 16-year-old Brianna Stewart and impersonated other teenage girls.
  • Arnaud du Tilh, who took the place of Martin Guerre in the 16th century and lived with Guerre's wife and son for three years before being discovered when Guerre returned.
  • Graham Tumber, who despite looking nothing at all like him and despite using his own name, impersonated Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi for a year, duping Dover district council into providing free hospitality and transport services after promising to appear at a charity concert in the town.[16]
  • Binjamin Wilkomirski, a fake Holocaust survivor.

[edit] In fiction

[edit] Books

[edit] Film

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Royal Pretender called delusional". United Press International. Retrieved 28 August 2008.
  2. ^ "Famous Impostors". London: Sidgwick and Jackson. 1910. http://www.bramstoker.org/nonfic/impostors.html. Retrieved 5 December 2010. 
  3. ^ Qantas phony uses MP as referee
  4. ^ Fake Qantas engineer jailed
  5. ^ Fake character references earn Walter Mitty real jail time
  6. ^ "The E-Carillon". Carillon.uregina.ca. http://www.carillon.uregina.ca/01.03.15/review.html. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
  7. ^ Jacques Steinberg and Katie Zezima (May 18, 2010). "Campuses Ensnared by Life of Deception". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/education/19harvard.html?ref=education. Retrieved 5 December 2010. 
  8. ^ Bogus Astronaut. ABC News, June 8, 2008.
  9. ^ A High-flying phony pulls 1 over on NASA. New York Daily News, June 4, 1998.
  10. ^ Man poses as astronaut steals NASA secrets. Reuters, June 4, 1998.
  11. ^ Fake POW pleads gulity to 21 year pension fraud
  12. ^ Fake POW gets real jail time for $460,000 welfare fraud
  13. ^ Kinston resident recalls extraordinary experiences in Army
  14. ^ Veterans contest 'Black Hawk' story
  15. ^ Teen high school basketball star is 22-year-old impostor
  16. ^ Rebecca Camber (2008-11-14). "Conman posing as Status Quo star enjoys free meals and trips in mayor's limousine after tricking entire town for a whole year | Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1085674/Conman-posing-Status-Quo-star-enjoys-free-meals-trips-mayors-limousine-tricking-entire-town-year.html. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
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