What Is An Imposter, Just FYI

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.

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 Pete Townshend.[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 imposter to evade disclosure.