From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 (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.
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.
Notable
impostors
Fraudsters
- Frank
Abagnale, who passed bad cheques as a fake pilot, doctor and
lawyer.
- Cassie
Chadwick, who pretended to be Andrew Carnegie's daughter.
- David
Hampton, who pretended to be the son of Sidney
Poitier.
- Frederick Emerson Peters, US
celebrity impersonator and writer of bad checks.
- James Reavis,
who claimed he owned Arizona.
- Christopher
Rocancourt, a US fake Rockefeller.
- Tichborne Claimant, claimed to be the
missing heir Sir Roger Tichborne.
- Wilhelm
Voigt, the "Captain of Köpenick".
- Lobsang
Rampa, who claimed to be a deceased Tibetan Lama
possessing the body of Cyril Hoskins and wrote a number of books
based on that premise.
- Aleksey Vayner, star of the "Impossible Is
Nothing" video résumé, who pretended to be the CEO of a capital
management company and a charity in order to gain an entry level
job at UBS.
- Michael Sabo,
who was known as a "Great Impostor" with over 100 professional
aliases listed with the FBI.
Exotic
impostors
Royal
impostors
- Bardiya, ancient ruler
of Persia, widely regarded as an impostor but may have been
genuine.
- Anna
Anderson, who may have really believed she was the Grand
Duchess Anastasia of Russia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
- Alexis
Brimeyer, a Belgian who claimed connection to various European
royal houses.
- Harry Domela,
who pretended to be an heir to the German throne.
- Eugenio
Lascorz who claimed connection to the royal house of the Byzantine
Empire.
- Eugenia
Smith, another woman who claimed to be the Grand
Duchess Anastasia of Russia.
- Perkin
Warbeck, a pretender to the throne of England.
- Pierre
Plantard, the mastermind behind the Priory of Sion hoax who claimed to be Merovingian, a pretender to the throne of
France.
- Charles
Stopford, an American man who has claimed to be an English
nobleman since 1983, using the name of a dead infant.
- Count Dante is
the real name of John Keehan. Many don't recognize his rationale
for assuming the title, and allegedly rightful, name of 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 carried
documented proof.
- Mary
Carleton who was, amongst other things, a false princess and
bigamist.
- Frederick
Rolfe, who is better known as Baron Corvo.
- False
Dmitriy I, False Dmitriy II and False Dmitriy III, who all impersonated the
son of Ivan the Terrible.
- False
Margaret, who impersonated the Maid of Norway.
- Terence Francis MacCarthy, an
Irishman, who has claimed to be a Prince of Desmond
- Andrew Lee, an Australian who claimed to be Lord Leitrim,
alternatively Lord Battenberg and has even claimed to be Prince Philip's love child.[2]
- Lambert
Simnel, a pretender to the throne of England.
Academic
impostors
- Dr Charlotte Bach, fringe evolutionary
theorist, who was neither a doctor nor a woman.
- Marvin
Hewitt, who became a university professor without real
credentials.
- James Hogue, who
most famously entered Princeton University by posing as a
self-taught orphan.
- Marilee
Jones, Dean of Admissions at MIT and a 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.
- 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.[3]
- Brian MacKinnon, who went back to being a
teenager in order to re-enter medical school.
- Azia Kim, who posed as a Stanford University student for eight
months, before finally being caught.
People who "went
native"
Multiple
impostors
- Jerry Alan Whittredge, dubbed the "Great Astronaut
Impersonator" pretended to be an Astronaut, CIA Regent for Life,
Medal of Honor winner and Top Gun Trophy winner, according to the
affidavit of the arresting agent Joseph Gutheinz. In 1998 he was
arrested after talking his way into NASA's Mission Control during a
Space Mission, after being given VIP tours of two Navy bases and
after receiving information about the space shuttle. He claimed his
attorney was President Bill Clinton.[4][5][6]
- Ferdinand Waldo Demara, "The
Great Impostor".
- Stanley Clifford Weyman.
- Laurel Rose Willson, who has
claimed to be victim of satanic ritual abuse "Lauren
Stratford" and Holocaust survivor "Laura Grabowski" (see
also Binjamin Wilkomirski).
- Frederic Bourdin, "the French
Chameleon".
- Barry Bremen
has entered multiple sporting events pretending to be an MLB
umpire, an NBA All-Star, and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader,
among other things.
- Christian
Karl Gerhartsreiter, German who claimed to be a member of the
Rockefeller family among other things.
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.
- James Barry, who successfully
lived as a "male" British military surgeon.
- Frances
Clalin, who served in Missouri artillery during the United States Civil War.
- Catalina de Erauso, Basque nun-soldier
under Spanish colonial army.
- Dorothy
Lawrence, an English journalist who wore uniform during World War I.
- Deborah
Sampson, a female soldier during the American
War of Independence.
- Mary Anne
Talbot, an Englishwoman who became a sailor during the Napoleonic wars.
- Billy Tipton,
jazz musician.
- Loreta Janeta Velazquez, who
supposedly was a Confederate soldier under
the name Harry T. Buford.
- Nadezhda
Durova, a woman who became a decorated soldier in the Russian
cavalry during the Napoleonic
wars.
- Hua Mulan, who
disguised herself as a man to join the Chinese army, when her father was too old for
it.
- Stanisława Walasiewicz, a Polish
athlete who became an Olympic champion by competing among women,
even though it was later learned that Walasiewicz had ambiguous
genitalia and could not easily be identified as either biologically
male or female.
Military
impostors
Several people who have never served in the military have
claimed service, often with decorations or membership in highly
selective units. Others have actual military service, but
embellished or exaggerated their accomplishments.
- Mark Anthony Ruddy, of Christchurch Dorset England. Served
three years with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps and was discharged
with a leg injury. Although he claims the IRA burst into his house
shooting wild he was hit in the leg his non-existent 6-year old son
was killed. Since then he has claimed to be a US Navy Seal, A CSM
of the Special Air Service (22 SAS) and (21 SAS the Artisan Rifle a
TA unit), and served with C Squadron of the Rhodesian SAS with
service in Vietnam with the Australian SAS. He also pretended to be
an ex para and stole a large sum from a charitable fund FOC (funds
for Chandler) - a charity fund to raise money for a disabled child
of a real Para. He also claimed to be the holder of the Queen's
Gallantry Medal, A Military Medal, A US Silver Star, Bronze Star
and two purple hearts plus other decorations he is not entitled to
wear. He claims he has served in Northern Ireland, The Falklands,
Gulf War 1, Columbia, Panama, Rwanda, Iraq 6 times and Afghanistan
3 times and a military adviser to the Chinese.
- Barry Symkins, (nickname stumpy) spent 4 years in the Royal
Engineers and while drunk fell through a glass table resulting in
amputated fingers. He claims his injury was while flying a
helicopter in Iraq and continually wears military dress uniform and
a great deal of medals he is not entitled to wear. He has also
portrayed serving in the French Foreign Legion and has previously
been exposed by the daily mirror but he continues his
waltering.
- Raymond Webb, professes to be related to Capt Webb who was the
first person to swim the English Channel. Other claims are that he
served as a Lt Commander in the Royal Navy as Clearance Diving
Instructor; to have served in the Falklands and with the US Navy
Seals; and having dived to the Russian submarine the Kursk to
rescue the trapped submariners.
- Douglas Nicolas Gow, portrays living in Queensland Australia
after being transferred from the RAF to the ARAF as a Wing
Commander Medical Doctor. He claims to have earned his Para wings
after just three jumps and was the station MO at RAF Akotiri, RAF
Aden, and RAF Oman before being posted to RAF Ely as CO of Tropical
Medicine. In actual fact Gow served as a RAF medic and emigrated to
New Zealand after 6 years service.
- Joseph
A. Cafasso, former Fox News military analyst who claimed to
have been a highly-decorated Special
Forces soldier and Vietnam War veteran. He actually served in
the U.S.
Army for only 44 days.
- Wes Cooley, a
former US Congressman who claimed to have fought in the Korean War. He served in
the U.S. Army for two years, but was never in Korea.
- Brian
Dennehy, a famous American actor who claimed to have fought in
the Vietnam War; he
served in the United States Marine Corps
for four years, but never in Vietnam.
- George Dupre,
who claimed that he had been working for the SOE and the French
Resistance during World War II. Dupre served in World War
II, but was never in France or with the SOE.
- Joseph Ellis,
American professor and historian who claimed a tour of duty in the
Vietnam War. He
served in the military during the war, but never left the U.S.
- Jesse
Macbeth, anti-war activist
who claimed to be an Army Ranger ordered to execute innocent
civilians in Iraq. He had been
discharged from the Army as unfit for duty before completing basic
training.
- Alan
Mcilwraith, a call
centre worker from Glasgow who, among other things, claimed that
he was a decorated captain in the British Army. An investigation proved that
he had no military service.
- Micah Wright,
an anti-war activist
who claimed to be an Army Ranger involved in the United States invasion of
Panama, and several other covert operations. He was an ROTC student in college, but never took a
commission and did not serve in the
military.
- James Shortt,
(born 1953), British, SAS/Para impostor, Baron of Castleshort, DG
International Bodyguard Association. His
only military service was a few months as a medic with the Territorial Army (the
British Army reserves).
- http://www.anzmi.net click on cases to see more
imposters.
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.
- Chevalier d'Eon, who lived the second half
of his life as a woman.
- Robert Hendy-Freegard, bogus 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, 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.
- Louis
de Rougemont, who claimed to be an explorer.
- Steven
Jay Russell, who has impersonated judges.
- Treva Throneberry, who became a younger
Brianna Stewart.
- Arnaud du Tilh, who took the place of Martin Guerre.
- Binjamin Wilkomirski, a fake Holocaust survivor.
- Enric Marco, who
presided over an association of Spanish survivors of the Nazi
camps, when in fact he went to Germany to work in the Nazi war
industry.
- Alan Conway, who
impersonated Stanley Kubrick during the early 1990s.
- Graham Tumber, who (despite looking nothing at all like him)
impersonated Status
Quo frontman Francis Rossi for a whole year, duping Dover council into providing free
hospitality and transport services after promising to appear at a
charity concert in the town.[7]
In
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