Hoax Museum Blog: Identity/Imposters

Princess Caraboo Portrait — An 1817 portrait of Princess Caraboo done by Thomas Barker is going up for auction at Christie's soon. Bidding is supposed to reach at least £6000. If I had the money I'd bid on it. It would go nicely above my desk.

The Unknown Man — The strange case of a man whose death revealed that he had been living as an imposter almost his entire life. His true identity is unknown.

The Kingdom of Mombessa — The adventures of Baron Moncrieffe and the mythical Kingdom of Mombessa. The Baron turns out to be a con man, and the Kingdom doesn't exist.

The French Rockefeller — Update on the criminal career of Christopher Rocancourt. He recently confessed to having scammed people by posing as a member of the Rockefeller family. Why people would have believed that a Rockefeller would be speaking with a thick French accent, I still can't understand.

Fake Paraplegic — In Australia a fake paraplegic faces charges of fraud. He walked into the court house unaided, using his fully functioning legs.

I Am Turok — Here's a strange publicity stunt: a London company is seeking five people who are willing to officially change their name to Turok for one year. These people will then be walking, talking billboards helping to spread the word about the X-Box game called 'Turok: Evolution.'

The Asian Prince — Someone wrote in with some new info about the Asian Prince website, which I have listed in my Hoax Websites Gallery. I stated that I wasn't sure if the Asian Prince was a hoax or not, but this reader reveals that the Prince's name "Wo-Hen Nankan" means "I am very ugly" in Mandarin. A clue that the site really is a hoax.

Medical Imposters — Interesting story in the Toronto Star about a man who was practicing medicine with fake credentials. But he didn't receive a single complaint about his practice. He was only exposed when the Ontario College of Physicians did a thorough check of the credentials of all medical practitioners in the area. It recalls the case of the Great Imposter, Ferdinand Waldo Demara, who once posed as a naval surgeon named Dr. Joseph Cyr and actually performed a lung operation on an injured soldier, even though he had never had a day of surgical training in his life. The operation was a success. He was only discovered to be a fake because someone recognized his picture when it appeared in a naval newsletter.

The Crying Indian — The "Crying Indian" was a fake! The guy who starred in all those "Keep America Beautiful" ads during the 1970s turns out not to have had a single drop of Native American blood in him, despite his claims to the contrary. He was actually an Italian-American named Oscar DeCorti.

Fake 9/11 Heroics — Lake Tahoe Man invents Sept. 11 heroics, including the claim that he was buried under rubble for over 79 hours.

Sisters Switch Places — Read this story in the Mirror: "A WOMAN fooled jail authorities for ten months by going to prison for her older sister. The 33-year-old took the place of her 37-year-old sibling in a fraud case in Zwiebruecken , Germany. The con was only discovered when she absconded on compassionate leave. Both now face jail."

Brian MacKinnon — Update about Brian MacKinnon, the 32 year old man who posed as a 17-year-old in order to get into medical school. Now it's seven years later and he's living in his car.