An impostor (also spelled imposter) is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often through means of disguise. Their objective is usually to try to gain financial or social advantages through

social engineering Social engineering may refer to: * Social engineering (political science), a means of influencing particular attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale * Social engineering (security), obtaining confidential information by manipulating and/or ...

, but also often for purposes of espionage or law enforcement.

Notable impostors

False nationality claims

* Princess Caraboo (1791–1864), Englishwoman who pretended to be a princess from a fictional island *

Korla Pandit Korla Pandit (September 16, 1921 – October 2, 1998), born John Roland Redd, was an American musician, composer, pianist, and organist. After moving to California in the late 1940s and getting involved in show business, Redd became known as "Kor ...

(1921–1998), African-American pianist/organist who pretended to be from India *

George Psalmanazar George Psalmanazar ( 1679 – 3 May 1763) was a Frenchman who claimed to be the first native of Formosa (today Taiwan) to visit Europe. For some years he convinced many in Britain, but he was eventually revealed to be of European origins. He sub ...

(1679–1763), who claimed to be from

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

False minority national identity claims

Joseph Boyden Joseph Boyden (born October 31, 1966) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer of Irish and Scottish descent. He also claims Indigenous descent, but this is widely disputed. Joseph Boyden is best known for writing about First Nations culture ...

(born 1966) Canadian writer who falsely claimed First Nations ancestry *

H. G. Carrillo H. G. Carrillo (born Herman Glenn Carroll; April 26, 1960 – April 20, 2020) was an American writer and Assistant Professor of English at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In the 1990s, he began writing as "H. G. Carrillo", and he ...

(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. * Asa Earl Carter (1925–1979), who under the alias of supposedly Cherokee writer Forrest Carter, authored several books, including ''

The Education of Little Tree ''The Education of Little Tree'' is a memoir-style novel written by Asa Earl Carter under the pseudonym Forrest Carter. First published in 1976 by Delacorte Press, it was initially promoted as an authentic autobiography recounting Forrest Car ...

'' *

Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance (born Sylvester Clark Long; December 1, 1890 – March 20, 1932) was a journalist, writer and film actor who, for a time, became internationally prominent as a spokesman for Native Americans in the United States, Na ...

(1890–1932), an African American who claimed to be the son of a Blackfoot chief * Iron Eyes Cody (1904–1999),

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

actor (the "crying Indian chief" in the " Keep America Beautiful" public service announcements in the early 1970s), who claimed to be of Cherokee-

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

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 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

in Spokane, Washington, who claimed African-American heritage despite being born to white parents * 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 Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

family who later claimed he was a Cherokee American Indian *

Jessica A. Krug Jessica Anne Krug (born ) is an American historian, author, and activist who taught at George Washington University (GWU) from 2012 to 2020, eventually becoming a tenured associate professor of history. Her publications include ''Fugitive Mode ...

("Jess 'La Bombalera'"), former associate professor at George Washington University who admitted to falsely claiming identities including "North African Blackness, then US rooted Blackness, then Caribbean rooted Bronx Blackness" throughout her career while being Jewish. * Sacheen Littlefeather (Marie Louise Cruz) was a 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 in 2022, when her sisters asserted their Mexican descent. *

BethAnn McLaughlin BethAnn McLaughlin is an American neuroscientist, activist, and hoaxer. She is a former assistant professor of neurology at Vanderbilt University. Her research at Vanderbilt focused on neural stress responses and brain injury. After being denied ...

neuroscientist who impersonated a bisexual Native American using the Twitter handle "@Sciencing_bi". *

Red Thunder Cloud Red Thunder Cloud (May 30, 1919January 8, 1996), born Cromwell Ashbie Hawkins West, also known as Carlos Westez, was a singer, dancer, storyteller, and field researcher. For a time he was promoted by anthropologists as "the last fluent speaker of ...

(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 *

Two Moon Meridas Two Moon Meridas (ca. 1888 – 1933) was an American seller of herbal medicine who claimed that he was of Sioux birth. Early life and education Meridas was born Chico Colon Meridan, son of Chico Meridan and Mary Tumoon, both of whom were born ...

(c. 1888–1933), seller of herbal medicine who claimed that he was of

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

birth

False royal heritage claims

Maddess Aiort Maddess Aiort (died 1982) was a woman who claimed to be Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia, the second daughter of Nicholas II of Russia. She died in 1982 of a serious disease still unknown. Biography The remains of the members of the Ro ...

claimed to have been Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia *

Granny Alina Granny Alina (died 1969) was the foster grandmother of Gabriel Louis Duval, who claimed in his 2004 book ''A Princess in the Family'' that she might have been Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. (however photos of Granny Alina depict he ...

claimed to have been Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia *

Michelle Anches Michelle Anches was a woman who claimed to be the Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia. The remains of all members of the Romanov family killed at Ekaterinburg in 1918, including Grand Duchess Tatiana, have been discovered and identified t ...

claimed to have been

Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia (Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanova; ; – 17 July 1918) was the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last monarch of Russia, and of Tsarina Alexandra. She was born at Peterhof Palace, near Saint Peters ...

* Anna Anderson (1896–1984), who may have really believed she was the

Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...

, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia *

Bardiya Bardiya or Smerdis ( peo, 𐎲𐎼𐎮𐎡𐎹 ; grc, Σμέρδις ; possibly died 522 BC), also named as Tanyoxarces ( grc, Τανυοξάρκης ) by Ctesias, was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both ...

(d. 522 BC), ancient ruler of Persia, widely regarded as genuine but was claimed to be an imposter by his successor *

Mary Baynton Mary Baynton (born approximately 1515) was a woman from England, who claimed to be the Mary I of England, Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII and his Wives of Henry VIII, first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She made the c ...

(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 been genuinely who he was claimed to be *

Natalya Bilikhodze Natalya Petrovna Bilikhodze (russian: Наталья Петровна Билиходзе; 1900–2000) was a Romanov impostor, one of several women to falsely claim that she was Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, who was executed with he ...

(1900–2000), appeared in the year 1995 and went to Russia in the year 2000 where she tried to claim the "Romanov fortune" as

, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. *

Marga Boodts Marga may refer to: People *Marga (Batak), a family name in Batak society * Marga Barbu (1929–2009), Romanian actress * Marga Boodts (1895–1976), woman claimed to be Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia *Marga Gomez (born 1960), Puerto Ric ...

claimed to have been Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia *

Helga de la Brache Helga de la Brache, née ''Aurora Florentina Magnusson'', (6 September 1817 in Stockholm – 11 January 1885 in Stockholm), was a Swedish con artist. She obtained a royal pension by convincing the authorities that she was the secret legitimate da ...

(1817–1885), claimed to have been the secret legitimate daughter of

Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland. The occupation of Finland in 1808–09 ...

and Frederica of Baden. *

Alexis Brimeyer Alex Ceslaw Maurice Jean Brimeyer (4 May 1946 – 27 January 1995) was a pretender who claimed connection to various European thrones. He used fraudulent combined titles such as "Prince d'Anjou Durazzo Durassow Romanoff Dolgorouki de Bourbon-Co ...

(1946–1995), Belgian who claimed connection to various European royal houses *

Mary Carleton Mary Carleton (born ''Mary Moders''; 11 August 1642 – 22 January 1673) was an Englishwoman who used false identities, such as a German princess, to marry and defraud a number of men. Early life Born Mary Moders in Canterbury. According to ...

(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 Suzanna Catharina de Graaff (born ''Suzanna Catharina Hemmes''; 5 May 1905, in Rotterdam – 25 November 1968), was a Dutch woman who claimed to be a fifth daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra. Her claim was accepted by Anna Anderso ...

(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". 3There are no official or private records of Alexandra giving birth to any child at this time. *

Pseudo-Constantine Diogenes Pseudo-Constantine Diogenes or Pseudo-Leo Diogenes (died after 1095) was an unsuccessful pretender to the Byzantine throne against Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Of lowly origin, he pretended to be a son of Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. Exiled to Chers ...

, pretended to be a son of Byzantine emperor Romanos IV Diogenes * False Dmitriy I (c. 1581 – 1606),

False Dmitriy II False Dmitry II ( rus, Лжедмитрий II, Lzhedmitrii II; died ), historically known as Pseudo-Demetrius II and also called "тушинский вор" ("rebel/criminal of Tushino"), was the second of three pretenders to the Russian throne w ...

(died 1610), and

False Dmitriy III False Dmitry III ( rus, Лжедмитрий III, Lzhedmitrii III; died July 1612), historically known as Pseudo-Demetrius III, was the last and most enigmatic of three pretenders to the Russian throne who claimed to be the youngest son of Ivan th ...

(died 1612), who all impersonated the son of

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...

Harry Domela Harry Domela (1905 – 4 October 1979) was a Russian Empire-born impostor who pretended to be a deposed German crown prince. Biography Harry Domela was born to German parents in 1905 in Kurland, Russian Empire. At the age of fifteen he fought in ...

(1905 – after 1978), who pretended to be an heir to the German throne *

Anna Ekelöf Anna Eleonora Ekelöf (floruit, fl. 1765), was a Swedes, Swedish serial impostor. She committed fraud with a series of false identity, false identities, posing as mamsell, noblewoman, officer, Count and the Gustav III of Sweden, Crown Prince of Swed ...

(fl. 1765), claimed to have been Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden. *

Anthony Gignac Anthony Enrique Gignac (born José Moreno, 1970) is a convicted American (Colombian-born) fraudster and con artist. In a career spanning 18 years, Gignac used wealthy, high-ranking personas, most notably that of Saudi prince Khalid bin Al Saud, ...

(1970), falsely took on the identity of

Saudi Saudi may refer to: * Saudi Arabia * Saudis, people from Saudi Arabia * Saudi culture, the culture of Saudi Arabia * House of Saud The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is c ...

prince Khalid bin Al Saud to entrap victims in investment scams and other schemes, currently serving an 18 year jail sentence *

Michael Goleniewski Michał Franciszek Goleniewski a.k.a. 'SNIPER', 'LAVINIA', (16 August 1922 – 12 July 1993), was a Polish officer in the People's Republic of Poland's Ministry of Public Security, the deputy head of military counterintelligence GZI WP, later hea ...

(1922–1993), was a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

agent who in the year 1959 claimed to be

Tsarevich Alexei of Russia Alexei Nikolaevich (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Никола́евич) (12 August .S. 30 July1904 – 17 July 1918) was the last Tsesarevich (heir apparent to the throne of the Russian Empire). He was the youngest child and only son of ...

* An author, Michael Gray, (an alias adopted by a Northern Irish teacher) claimed in his book Blood Relative that the Tsarevich escaped with the

Dowager Empress Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother) () is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere. The title was also g ...

aboard the warship HMS Marlborough in 1919 and later assumed the name Nikolai Chebotarev. In the book, Gray claims he is the son of the Tsarevich and

Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (27 August 1968), born Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark ( el, Μαρίνα), was a Greek princess by birth and a British princess by marriage. She was a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and ...

, and they had secretly married in the late 1940s. *

Anna Gyllander Anna Gyllander (born 1633 – floruit 1659) was a Swedish imposter, who during the reign of King Charles X of Sweden, presented herself to be the abdicated queen Christina of Sweden. The fraud In 1659, rumours reached King Charles X that there wa ...

(fl. 1659), claimed to have been

queen Christina of Sweden Christina ( sv, Kristina, 18 December (New Style) 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father Gustavus Adolphus upon his death ...

. *

Anatoly Ionov Anatoli Semyonovich Ionov (russian: Анатолий Семёнович Ионов ; May 23, 1939 – May 12, 2019)Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia *

Tile Kolup Tile Kolup (died 7 July 1285), also known as Dietrich Holzschuh, was an impostor who in 1284 began to pretend to be Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. Kolup took advantage of persistent rumors that the emperor, who had died in 1250, was not really ...

(d. 1285), also known as Dietrich Holzschuh, was an impostor who in 1284 began to pretend to be the

Emperor Frederick II Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusa ...

Eugenio Lascorz Eugenio Lascorz y Labastida (26 March 1886 – 1 June 1962) was a Spanish lawyer who claimed to be a descendant of the medieval Laskaris family (believing his last name ''Lascorz'' to be a corruption of ''Laskaris''), which had ruled the Byzant ...

(1886–1962), who claimed connection to the royal house of the Byzantine Empire * Terence Francis MacCarthy (born 1957), styled himself

MacCarthy Mór MacCarthy ( ga, Mac Cárthaigh), also spelled Macarthy, McCarthy or McCarty, is an Irish Irish clans, clan originating from Kingdom of Munster, Munster, an area they ruled during the Middle Ages. It was divided into several great branches; the M ...

and "Prince of Desmond" *

Šćepan Mali Šćepan Mali ( sr-cyr, Шћепан Мали ), translated as Stephen the Little, Stephen the Small or Stephen the Humble, ( – 22 September 1773) was the first and only "tsar" of Montenegro, ruling the country as an absolute monarch from 1768 ...

(d. 1773), who claimed to be Peter III of Russia, and managed to rule Montenegro *

False Margaret False Margaret (or Margareth or Margareta) ( – 1301) was a Norway, Norwegian woman who impersonated Margaret, Maid of Norway. The real Margaret had died in 1290 at Orkney, and her father, Eric II of Norway, King Eric II, died in 1299, succee ...

(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 * Yemelyan Pugachev (c. 1742–1775), who claimed to be Peter III of Russia *

Raiktor Raiktor or Raictor was an Eastern Orthodox monk who assumed the identity of Byzantine Emperor Michael VII. He participated in the Norman campaigns of Robert Guiscard to overthrow the Byzantine Empire. Background By 1081, the Byzantine Empire w ...

(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 Eugenia Smith (January 25, 1899 – January 31, 1997), also known as Eugenia Drabek Smetisko, was one of several Romanov impostors who claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Anastasia, youngest daughter ...

(1899–1997), another woman who claimed to be the

* Charles Stopford claimed to be the Earl of Buckingham *

Heino Tammet Alexei Tammet-Romanov was the name assumed by Ernest Veermann (died June 26, 1977), an Estonian immigrant to Canada, when he claimed to be the last heir to the throne of Russia, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia. For many years prior to this ...

claimed to be

. 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 Nadezhda Ivanova-Vasilyeva (? – 1971; Cyrillic: Надежда Владимировна Иванова-Васильева) was one of several women who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Vasilyeva first surfaced in Siber ...

, appeared in the 1920s in Russia and claimed to be

. She died in a psychiatric ward in 1971 in Kazan, Russia. *

Perkin Warbeck Perkin Warbeck ( 1474 – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he alive, ...

(c. 1474 – 1499), pretender to the throne of England

Fraudsters

* Frank Abagnale (born 1948), who passed bad checks as a fake pilot, doctor, and lawyer *

Gerald Barnbaum Gerald Barnbaum (1933 - June 15, 2018), aka "Gerald Barnes", "Jerold C. Barnes", "Jerald C. Barnes" and "Gerald Charles Barnes", was a pharmacist and convicted felon who posed as a physician, medical doctor between 1976 and 2000. Biography Fra ...

(1933–2018), former pharmacist who posed as a doctor for over twenty years, assuming the identities of various licensed physicians * Alessandro Cagliostro (1743–1795), Italian adventurer and self-styled magician *

Cassie Chadwick Cassie L. Chadwick (10 October 1857 – 10 October 1907) was the most well-known pseudonym used by Canadian con artist Elizabeth Bigley, who defrauded several American banks out of millions of dollars during the late 1800s and early 1900s by c ...

(1857–1907), who pretended to be Andrew Carnegie's daughter *

Ravi Desai Ravi Desai is an American executive and Harvard graduate accused by various companies, most notably TheStreet.com, of inappropriate and deceitful behaviour in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Desai is a native of Ithaca, New York. Early career In ...

, (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 *

Belle Gibson Annabelle Natalie Gibson (born 8 October 1991) is an Australian convicted scammer and pseudoscience advocate. She is the author of ''The Whole Pantry'' mobile app and its later companion cookbook. Throughout her career as a wellness guru, Gibs ...

(born 1991), an Australian alternative wellness advocate who falsely claimed to have survived multiple cancers without using conventional cancer treatments *

David Hampton David Hampton (April 28, 1964 – July 18, 2003) was an American con artist and robber who became infamous in the 1980s after he convinced a group of wealthy Manhattanites to give him money, food, and shelter under the pretense that he was ...

(1964–2003), who pretended to be the son of

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

* Joseph "Harry" Jelinek (1905–1986), who is alleged to have fraudulently sold the

Karlstejn Castle Karlstein may refer to places in: ; Germany: * Karlstein am Main, a municipality in Landkreis Aschaffenburg, Bavaria * part of Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria ** a rock with a ruin there * Karlstein bei Hornberg, a rock in Hornberg, Baden-Württemberg ...

to American industrialists * Brian Kim (born 1975/1976), lived in

Christodora House Christodora House is a historic building located at 143 Avenue B in the East Village/Alphabet City neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by architect Henry C. Pelton (architect of Riverside Church) in the American Perpend ...

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 *

Sante Kimes Sante Kimes (born Sante Singhrs; July 24, 1934 – May 19, 2014) was an American criminal who was convicted of two murders, as well as robbery, forgery, violation of anti-slavery laws, and numerous other crimes. Many of these crimes were comm ...

(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 Mandla Lamba is a South Africa, South African scammer, known for having acquired a fake reputation as the country's "youngest billionaire" and a successful mining tycoon before being exposed. He was arrested on fraud and homicide charges in May ...

, "fake billionaire" from South Africa who received media attention by claiming to be a successful mining tycoon. * Victor Lustig (1890–1947), "The man who sold the Eiffel Tower. Twice." *

Richard Allen Minsky Richard Allen Minsky (born March 15, 1944), also known as Richard Alan Minsky, is an American former used car salesman who was convicted of multiple charges of rape, assault, battery, extortion, grand theft, larceny, lewd and lascivious behavio ...

(born 1944), who lured women into vulnerable situations by pretending to be people they knew, then lawyers representing them, and then raped them * Arthur Orton (1834–1898), also known as the

Tichborne Claimant The Tichborne case was a legal ''cause célèbre'' that captivated Victorian England in the 1860s and 1870s. It concerned the claims by a man sometimes referred to as Thomas Castro or as Arthur Orton, but usually termed "the Claimant", to be t ...

, who claimed to be the missing heir Sir Roger Tichborne *

Paul Palaiologos Tagaris Paul Palaiologos Tagaris ( el, Παῦλος Παλαιολόγος Τάγαρις, – after 1394) was a Byzantine Greek monk and impostor. A scion of the Tagaris family, Paul also claimed a somewhat dubious connection with the Palaiologos dyn ...

(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 The Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople was an office established as a result of the Fourth Crusade and its conquest of Constantinople in 1204. It was a Roman Catholic replacement for the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ...

* Frederick Emerson Peters (1885–1959), U.S. celebrity impersonator and writer of bad checks *

Gert Postel Gert Uwe Postel (born June 18, 1958 in Bremen) is a German impostor, best known for successfully applying several times for public health positions as a medical doctor without ever having received medical education. Gert Postel went to Hauptsc ...

(born 1958), a mail carrier who posed as a medical doctor *

Lobsang Rampa Lobsang Rampa was the pen name of Cyril Henry Hoskin (8 April 1910 – 25 January 1981), an author who wrote books with paranormal and occult themes. His best known work is '' The Third Eye'', published in Britain in 1956. Following the ...

(1910–1981), formerly plumber Cyril Hoskins, who claimed to be possessed by the spirit of a deceased Tibetan

lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...

and wrote a number of books based on that premise *

James Reavis James Addison Reavis (May 10, 1843November 27, 1914), later using the name James Addison Peralta-Reavis, the so-called Baron of Arizona, was an American forger and fraudster. He is best known in association with the Peralta land grant, also kno ...

(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 Anna Sorokin (russian: Анна Сорокина; born January 23, 1991), also known as Anna Delvey, is a con artist and fraudster who posed as a wealthy heiress to access the upper echelons of the New York social and art scenes from 2013 to ...

(born 1991), posed as a fictitious wealthy heiress to fraudulently obtain loans, luxury goods, travel, and stays at exclusive hotels *

Leander Tomarkin Leander William Tomarkin (13 December 1895 – 1967) was a Swiss impostor who claimed to possess a doctorate in medicine, as well as to have invented a miracle medicine for the cure of typhus, tuberculosis, meningitis, and malaria. He ascended to b ...

(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

Wartime impostors and spies

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. However their purpose was rarely for fraudulent gain. They are listed in the

List of wartime cross-dressers Wartime may refer to: * Wartime, Saskatchewan, a small community in Saskatchewan, Canada * Wartime, a formal state of war, as opposed to peacetime * ''Wartime'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film spin-off of the TV series ''Doctor Who'' * ''Wart ...

. 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

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. *

Joseph A. Cafasso Joseph Anthony Cafasso Jr. (born August 2, 1956) is an American former Fox News consultant on military and counterterrorism issues who left the network in 2002 after it was discovered he was a military imposter. Cafasso claimed to have been a r ...

(born 1956), former Fox News military analyst who claimed to have been a highly decorated

U.S. Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal m ...

soldier and Vietnam War veteran, but actually served in the army for only 44 days in 1976 * 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 *

George Dupre George Dupre (1903–1982) was a Canadian man who falsely claimed to have been a Special Operations Executive operative during World War II. In 1953, Quentin Reynolds, an ex- war correspondent, had written a book ''The Man Who Wouldn't Talk'' ...

(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 Frank William Dux (; born April 6, 1956) is a Canadian-American martial artist and fight choreographer. According to Dux, a ninjutsu expert named Senzo Tanaka trained him as a ninja when he was a teenager. He established his own school of ninju ...

(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 ''The Secret Man'' is a 1917 American silent Western film, directed by John Ford and featuring Harry Carey. Two of the five reels of the film survive at the Library of Congress film archive. Plot As described in a film magazine, Cheyenne Harr ...

'' 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". * 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 *

Jack Livesey Jack Edwards Livesey (11 June 1901 – 12 October 1961) was a British film actor. He was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, the son of Sam Livesey, the brother of Barry Livesey, and the cousin and step-brother of Roger Livesey. He died in B ...

(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 *

Jesse Macbeth Jesse Adam Al-Zaid (born March 21, 1984; name changed from Jesse Adam Macbeth in 1986) is an American anti-war protester, author, and military imposter, who was convicted of falsely claiming to be an Army Ranger and veteran of the Iraq War. In al ...

(born 1984),

anti-war activist An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to ...

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 *

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

(1908–1957),

U.S. senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

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 *

Alan Mcilwraith Alan Mcilwraith (born 3 March 1978) is a Scottish former call centre worker from Glasgow who was exposed as a military impostor by a tabloid newspaper after he passed himself off as a much-decorated British Army officer. He convinced a number ...

(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 *

Eric von Stroheim Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, actor and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of the silent era. H ...

, 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 Köpenick" *

Micah Wright Micah Ian War Dog Wright (born 1969) is an American writer who has worked in film, television, animation, video games and comic books. He is an enrolled member of the Muscogee Creek Nation. Early life Wright was born in Lubbock, Texas. He gradu ...

(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

Multiple impostors

* Frédéric Bourdin (born 1974), "the French Chameleon"Laura Plitt, producer
"Frederic Bourdin – the man who changed his identity 500 times,"
BBC News, 19 October 2012. *

Barry Bremen Barry Bremen (June 30, 1947Lynch, EamonRetrieved July 17, 2008. – June 30, 2011) was a West Bloomfield, Michigan, insuranceKenyon, J. Michael"Real action in '79 was outside the lines," ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (July 6, 2001).Retrieved July ...

(1947–2011), known in the sports world as "The Great Imposter", after pretending to be an MLB umpire, an

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

All-Star, and a

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (sometimes initialized as DCC, and officially nicknamed "America's Sweethearts") are the National Football League cheerleading squad representing the Dallas Cowboys team. History 1960s During a game between the C ...

, among other things *

Ferdinand Waldo Demara Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr. (1921 – June 7, 1982) was an American impostor. He was the subject of a movie: ''The Great Impostor'', in which he was played by Tony Curtis. Demara's impersonations included a naval surgeon, a civil engin ...

(1921–1982), "The Great Impostor", who masqueraded as many people, from monks to surgeons to prison wardens *

Christian Gerhartsreiter Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter (born February 21, 1961) is a German convicted murderer and impostor. Born in West Germany, he is currently serving a prison sentence in the U.S. state of California. After moving to the U.S. in his late teens, Gerh ...

(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 *

Marvin Hewitt Marvin Hewitt (born 1922) was an American impostor who became, among other things, a university physics professor. Hewitt was a high school drop-out with no qualifications who wanted to become an academic. He always used names and identities of rea ...

(born 1922), who impersonated several academics and became a university physics professor *

Stanley Clifford Weyman Stanley Clifford Weyman (November 25, 1890 – August 27, 1960), was an American multiple impostor who impersonated public officials, including the United States Secretary of State and various military officers. Weyman was born as Stephen Jacob ...

(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 is a Japanese composer from Hiroshima Prefecture who falsely stated that he was totally deaf. He said throughout his career that he was deaf which led to foreign media dubbing him a "digital-age Beethoven". He was also the name credited for the ...

(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.

Others

* 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 Alan Eddie Conway (10 July 1934 – 5 December 1998) was an English conman, best known for impersonating film director Stanley Kubrick. Conway and his wife were travel agents with offices in Harrow and Muswell Hill. Early years Alan Conway was ...

(1934–1998), who impersonated

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

during the early 1990s *

Misha Defonseca Misha Defonseca (born Monique de Wael) is a Belgian-born impostor and the author of a fraudulent Holocaust memoir titled '' Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years'', first published in 1997 and at that time professed to be a true memoir. It beca ...

(born 1937) Belgian Catholic woman who took the identity of a Jewish Holocaust survivor *

Alicia Esteve Head Alicia Esteve Head ( , ; born July 31, 1973) is a Spanish woman who claimed to be a survivor of September 11 attacks, the attacks on the World Trade Center (1973–2001), World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, under the name Tania Head. She j ...

(born 1973), Spanish woman who claimed to be a survivor of the September 11 attacks, under the name Tania Head. * 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 Robert Hendy-Freegard (born Robert Freegard, 1 March 1971) is a British convicted confidence trick, conman and impostor who masqueraded as an MI5 agent while working as a barman and car salesman. He is also known as David Hendy and David Clifto ...

(born 1971), English barman, car salesman and conman who masqueraded as a MI5 agent. *

James Hogue James Arthur Hogue (born October 22, 1959) is an American impostor who most famously entered Princeton University by posing as a self-taught orphan. Early life Hogue was raised in a working-class family in Kansas City, Kansas, and graduated fro ...

(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 Disumbrationism was a hoax masquerading as an art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years o ...

Rahul Ligma Rahul Ligma is a fictional fired Twitter employee, a character played by one of a pair of amateur improvisational actors that pranked multiple major media outlets on October 28, 2022. The spontaneous and intentionally transparent hoax was revealed ...

, who pretended to be a fired Twitter employee, pranking major media outlets in 2022 *

Enric Marco Enric Marco (12 April 1921 – 21 May 2022) was a Catalonian impostor who claimed to have been a prisoner in Nazi German concentration camps Mauthausen and Flossenbürg in World War II. He was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi by the Catalan governm ...

(born 1921), Spaniard who claimed to have been a prisoner in the Nazi German concentration camps Mauthausen and Flossenburg in World War II. * Brian MacKinnon (born c. 1963), who at the age of thirty attended Bearsden Academy by posing as a teenager *

Rosemarie Pence Rosemarie Pence (formerly Hannah Pence; born 1938) is a German-American woman who posed as a child Holocaust survivor from the Dachau Concentration Camp. Pence became the subject of a fake biography titled '' Hannah: From Dachau to the Olympics ...

(born 1938), American woman who falsely claimed to have been a German Jew imprisoned at

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

, and told her stories in an authorized biography '' Hannah: From Dachau to the Olympics and Beyond'' *

Stephen Rannazzisi Stephen Rannazzisi (born July 4, 1977) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He acted in the FXX comedy series ''The League'' as Kevin MacArthur. Personal life Rannazzisi, born in Smithtown, New York on July 4, 1977, briefly attended the ...

(born 1978), American actor and comedian who claimed to be a survivor of the September 11 attacks *

Steven Jay Russell Steven Jay Russell (born December 31, 1957) is an American con artist, known for escaping from prison multiple times. ''I Love You Phillip Morris'', a film about his life and crimes, was produced in 2009. In 2011, his crimes were featured on ...

(born 1957), who has impersonated judges and a doctor, among others, and is known for escaping from prison multiple times *

Arnaud du Tilh Martin Guerre, a French peasant of the 16th century, was at the centre of a famous case of imposture. Several years after Martin Guerre had left his wife, child and village, a man claiming to be him appeared. He lived with Guerre's wife and so ...

(1524–1560), who took the place of

Martin Guerre Martin Guerre, a French peasant of the 16th century, was at the centre of a famous case of imposture. Several years after Martin Guerre had left his wife, child and village, a man claiming to be him appeared. He lived with Guerre's wife and so ...

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 Donald Joseph Watt (10 August 1918 – 28 May 2000) was an Australian Army soldier and the author of a literary hoax, a fictitious Holocaust memoir entitled ''Stoker: The Story of an Australian Soldier who Survived Auschwitz-Birkenau'', published ...

(1918–2000), Australian soldier who claimed to have been a

Sonderkommando ''Sonderkommandos'' (, ''special unit'') were work units made up of German Nazi death camp prisoners. They were composed of prisoners, usually Jews, who were forced, on threat of their own deaths, to aid with the disposal of gas chamber vict ...

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

Binjamin Wilkomirski ''Fragments: Memories of a Wartime Childhood'' is a 1995 book, whose author used the pseudonym Binjamin Wilkomirski, which purports to be a memoir of the Holocaust. It was debunked by Swiss journalist and writer in August 1998. The subsequent di ...

(born 1941), who adopted a constructed identity as a Holocaust survivor and published author * 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 On April 18 and 19, 2020, Gabriel Wortman committed multiple shootings and set fires at 16 locations in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 people and injuring three others before he was shot and killed by the Royal Canadian Mo ...

Notable impostors

False nationality claims

False minority national identity claims

False royal heritage claims

Fraudsters

Wartime impostors and spies

Military impostors

Multiple impostors

Others

In fiction

See also

References

External links