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Find sources: "List of impostors" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Animpostor (also spelled imposter)[1] 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 or through means of identity theft, but also often for purposes of espionageorlaw enforcement.
See also: False pretenders
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.[21] 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 famous case was that of Chevalier d'Eon (1728–1810), a French diplomat who successfully infiltrated the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia by presenting as a woman.
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.[22]
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.
