George Santos memes showing up on social media make me smile. While folks like Mr. Santos used to get laughed off the public stage, these days Walter Mitty-like behavior seems to have become de rigueur among a certain segment of our population. But come to think of it, Walter Mitty (the fictional creation of James Thurber) was a daydreamer rather than an imposter.
Santos has been caught in outright lies about his background since he won a seat in the House of Representatives. He claimed his mother died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but there is no evidence she was even in the U.S. during the attack. He has falsely claimed he was Jewish and his grandmother was a Holocaust victim, that he worked on Wall Street and he embroidered (lied about) his educational background.
Remember the 1960s movie "The Great Imposter"? That film, starring Tony Curtis, was said to be based on the life of one Fernando Waldo Demara.
At times in his life (he died at the age of 60 in 1982), Demara lived as a Trappist monk, a doctor of psychology, dean of philosophy at a small college in Pennsylvania (Gannon College in Erie), a law student, a zoology graduate, a career researcher, a teacher at a junior college in Maine, a surgeon in the Royal Canadian Army, assistant warden at a Texas prison and a teacher in a Maine village. He often borrowed the names and credentials of living people. He faced charges of fraud, forgery, theft, embezzlement, resisting arrest, vagrancy and public drunkenness.
Plug con artist into a Google search and you'll be rewarded with tales of famous - or infamous - tricksters such as Charles Ponzi, Elizabeth Holmes, Bernie Madoff and scores more. These days, the newest con artists mount"social engineering attacks" to prey on unsuspecting targets over the internet. The perpetrators might pretend to be your boss, your friends, your grandchildren, someone from Microsoft. But no matter who they're pretending to be, their motivation is to separate you from your data or your money!
My newspaperman grandfather wrote this about a fellow who was pretending to be someone he wasn't.
"Let's see now. We mentioned an occasional 'stinker,' didn't we?
"Once in a while one comes our way. Met one last week. He introduced himself as a big shot.
"He told this writer, 'I'm Hal M. Harrison. I write Life Afield for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
"The fellow did not look like a newspaperman. He did not talk like one. He carried a camera but it was a small cheap instrument, not the kind used by men who take pictures for newspapers.
"The writer thought he was one of those exceptions, but added two and two and it did not make four. The alleged columnist was coming back next day. He did not.
"It kinda bothered us so we called Hal Harrison in Pittsburgh. Nope, he had not been in Potter County. He remarked, 'Hell's bells, I haven't been out of the house in three days!'
"The genial Hal was as much puzzled as were we. He'd kinda like to know who is doing the impersonating act.
"The bogus Hal reminds us of a story of a local man. The story is told that at a good hotel away from home he registered as Dr. So-and-So. He was enjoying the masquerade when there was an emergency call for a physician. Immediately they paged Dr. So-and-So.
"When found, he graciously explained that he was sorry but his title came from Ph.D, not M.D. That let him out of a tight hole.
"The uncouth 'Hal' better polish up on newspapering or cut it out. Otherwise he is in for embarrassment and he may face a charge of giving false information to the press. Thirty days in jail might bring the poor dumb guy to his senses – if any."
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