Impostor - 'One who assumes a false Character'.

Discussion in 'Veteran Accounts' started by von Poop, Feb 4, 2010.

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  1. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Robert

    With reference to owning a Japanese Toyota, there was indeed a time when I gave serious thought to the origin of things before I bought them. However, in the world in which I now live, if I visit a store to make a purchase then I am completely aware of the fact that I am considering products from all over the world.

    If "my war" had been spent in the Far East and had I been a prisoner of war of the Japanese then I admit that it was less likely that I would eventually have owned a Yaris.

    Having said all that, I am delighted with the car and at my time of life it suits me well.

    That's it in the recent snowfall

    Aren't all the Yaris models for Europe built at Valenciennes ?
     
  2. Nicola_G

    Nicola_G Senior Member

    Not WW2 but post 9/11. There was a programme on TV the other day about a woman who claimed to be a 78 floor survivor saved by one particular fireman. She became part of the survivors groups and eventually became president, was feted as representative of the survivors etc etc etc.

    I was totally 'gob smacked' to think that she had the gall to do that. What possessed her? It basically plays on the emotions of the survivors, the lost and their families and is extremely insulting.

    Once she was discovered she fled back to Spain where she came from apparently and the survivors group received an apology by email from her and she has now 'apparently' committed suicide, but who knows?!!
     
  3. marcus69x

    marcus69x I love WW2 meah!!!

    I watched that the other day too Nicola. 'The 9/11 faker'.

    Very strange woman indeed!
     
  4. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    I absolutely fail to see the advantage of being who you are not. being a Vet has done nothing for me, except a load of pain for many years, who wants that?
    Not me old sausages, Not me.
    Ron my car is a Vauxhall 2,2 litre hatchback, the same one the police use in some forces to catch the baddies in high speed road chases. BROOM BROOM.
    Automatic... fast.... plenty of room in the Boot for me wheelchair. I also had an electric hoist fitted to get the chair in and out.
    Cheers Sapper
     
  5. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I absolutely fail to see the advantage of being who you are not. being a Vet has done nothing for me, except a load of pain for many years, who wants that?
    Not me old sausages, Not me.
    Ron my car is a Vauxhall 2,2 litre hatchback, the same one the police use in some forces to catch the baddies in high speed road chases. BROOM BROOM.
    Automatic... fast.... plenty of room in the Boot for me wheelchair. I also had an electric hoist fitted to get the chair in and out.
    Cheers Sapper

    I got laid on a Greek island in 1992 pretending to be a war vet so it does have its advantages now and then. That said they were from Essex so it may not have influenced them that much :lol:
     
  6. urqh

    urqh Senior Member

    Man or woman though Drew.. As you well know the points awarded depend on the gender of the other party...
     
  7. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Gay before bed never started until I joined up :lol:
     
  8. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Drew, Question is how did you claiming to be a Boer war, vet get you laid:lol:
     
  9. bern

    bern Senior Member

    I have just started to read this thread, when I clicked on the link in the first post I had a warning from my AVG anti virus. Anyone else get it?
     
  10. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    Everything normal according to Panda.
     
  11. phylo_roadking

    phylo_roadking Very Senior Member

    WWII era imposters, fake memoirs etc. is NOTHING new...sadly. A few years ago on Feldgrau and AHF there was the example of the supposed German veteran "Joscha" who was later revealed as an imposter, while two years ago I had all the "fun" of revealing the non-existence of the literary veterans created by the author Paul Harker.

    How we got round the problem on Feldgrau was by the Mods acting as a third-party reference - veterans over whom there was some question forwarding documentary evidence of their service to one or more of the Mods - who would then check and publically confirm their service without revealing their real identity if they so wished. Obviously, a few preferred for various reasons to make use of the latter provision....

    As an example, one preferred his real identity kept condfidential as he lived in the same retirement home as a couple of loud and rather hostile WWII Allied veterans, who would have made his life hell if they'd known of his former life decades ago! When some doubt was cast over his indentity as a veteran by a former member, the person concerned was able to forward scans of some of his surviving service documents to the Mods...who were then simply able to say in the public that the man was what and who he said he was, nothing more.
     
  12. Vitesse

    Vitesse Senior Member

    I have just started to read this thread, when I clicked on the link in the first post I had a warning from my AVG anti virus. Anyone else get it?
    Yep. Same here. I suspect it might be a hangover from when WW2F was hacked. But if you click on it a second time - no warning. The link defaults to a "you do not have permission" page anyway.
     
  13. bern

    bern Senior Member

    Thanks mate.
     
  14. PBI_1944

    PBI_1944 Member

    "Frauds" are everywhere these days.

    SEAL and Ranger veterans are busy 24/7 doing undercover research on a dozen folks who say they passed UDT/BUDS but are nothing more than Taco Bell drive-through attendants (or the fry cook). I remember reading that the SEAL Veterans Association has a full-time researcher that scans the internet looking for frauds.

    We had one in our civilian pipe band many years ago. He came out wearing U.S. Army jump wings (Masters), HALO wings (which I dont think came out then), a combat medics badge (in silver), and a unit commendation ribbon (in gold) on his right breast, which if memory serves correct you must have been present in the unit when the unit award was given in combat. He was 29 years of age ... and after one hard-bitten, long-suffering Vietnam vet approached him he confessed and was unceremoniously booted out of the band.

    I also remember the story of a Legion of Frontiersman "Brigadier General" who awarded himself an MM as a "Major, SAS Squadron" in Vietnam in 1969. The Australians did the background work and uncovered this:

    hale

    And another one:

    weatherall

    AARSE has a thread here:

    Legion of Frontiersmen II - Return of the Jedis

    Back in the late 80's a local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post in a small town north of Houston, Texas uncovered an imposter who claimed to be a former "Colonel of Infantry." Each year this old codger was brought out to accept the salute during the July 4th and Veterans Day parade. He spoke at political conventions, old folks homes, and various veterans events. One night several VFW members were talking and said something did not add up with him. They walked over to "The Colonel" (who was husbanding a beer at the bar) and asked him where he received his initial officers training. The fraud said "Why Camp Patton, just like everyone else did." A 1st Infantry Division veteran stuck his face in the Colonels: Sir, there is no Camp Patton. The gig up ... the old gentleman confessed that he had not served. He had wanted to but was 4F due to a bad back and knee. He was then picked up and physically tossed out of the VFW beer hall on his rear end. The old man died several weeks later. The story came out in our local paper years ago and I read it when I was high school.
     
  15. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    Yep. Same here. I suspect it might be a hangover from when WW2F was hacked. But if you click on it a second time - no warning. The link defaults to a "you do not have permission" page anyway.

    When the link was initially placed by Adam, the whole sordid story was open to the public. After a suitable time, I moved the threads and other various posts to a non-public location. We still have all of his crap, it is just not visible to everyone.

    The boy (and I emphasize "boy") did a good job, but he slipped up a couple of times and that was his downfall. We let him prat on for a while, not letting on about our suspicions until we had solid confirmation.
     
  16. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Quite honestly, I completely fail to see the advantage of posing as a Veteran of some type or other....WHY? It certainly does nothing for me. Nor I suspect, for other Vets on this site??? It s damned silly
    sapper
     
  17. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Quite honestly, I completely fail to see the advantage of posing as a Veteran of some type or other....WHY? It certainly does nothing for me. Nor I suspect, for other Vets on this site??? It s damned silly
    sapper

    Free Beer down the Legion and when I did it, it was to impress the ladies on holiday for a bit of 'hows ya father' ;)
     
  18. Lady Prime

    Lady Prime Discharged

    My biggest question I have is (and forgive me for using logic on this board)...

    To what purpose does it serve for someone to fake their military status online? Doesn't the person know that they will eventually get caught even though the monitor can hide who they are because of what they say and what they do?

    There is no greater insult to those who served in the military than for schmucks like Mike McCormick/Ranger6 and his "ilk" to cruise around on forums pretending to be something they are not. :mad: If you cannot be real online as you are offline, stay off the Internet (okay, that was my opinion...)

    Heather
     
  19. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Heather
    it is unfortunate that there are folk out there who use the internet to indulge in their fantasies.
    Quite possibly the individuals could have a medical personality condition or they are just out to defraud the persons they meet.
    Not sure it will ever cease.
    However it is good that the these folk are eventually outed

    regards
    Clive
     
  20. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Heather
    it is unfortunate that there are folk out there who use the internet to indulge in their fantasies.
    Quite possibly the individuals could have a medical personality condition or they are just out to defraud the persons they meet.
    Not sure it will ever cease.
    However it is good that the these folk are eventually outed

    regards
    Clive
    .

    Clive - It's a great way of getting a bit of obvious. The ladies loved a squaddie when I was in Bosnia in 2004 and some couldn't wait to get home on R+R.

    Infact I remember once lass webcam'd one of my mates (with a lot of the lads hiding out of view of the Cam but could see the screen) in the Comm Cen and told her he was going out on Ops because he told her he might not make it back. She was rather sympathetic and I was surprised to see what could be done with a golf ball o_O

    There's some gullible folk out there and there's nowt worse than a bored squaddie on tour - They take no prisoners and have no shame :lol:
     

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