/SKINNER!

The greatest identity thefts are probabky the ones that have never been discovered. This ia a list of the worst ones - the ones that got caught.

/He has had his identity stolen 13 times
//Under investigation for fraud because of it

osdrcomputers: I pretended to be the wallet inspector once.

or this...

IcedInferno: /also hide-and-seek world champion, 33 A.D.-Present

Actually, Anne Frank held that title from 1942 to 1944

Good Behavior Day: IcedInferno: /also hide-and-seek world champion, 33 A.D.-Present

Actually, Anne Frank held that title from 1942 to 1944

Yeah, too bad she couldn't see her trophy or hear the congratulatory speech.

My friend did a much better job than the cheerleader. At 34 or so he moved across the country and convinced an entire church community he was a misunderstood orphan 14-year-old. He was taken in by a family, enrolled in high school, and taken care of. He actually graduated from high school and got a job at some kind of store.

It was the job that brought him down. He started pulling some kind of sales scam that finally got attention.

drjekel_mrhyde: OhEmmGeee ClayAiken!!! Who is that?

NBA star and 2006 MVP Dirk Nowitzki's ex-fiance who currently sits in jail.

He had already bought her a $250k ring and they were all set on marrying shortly. Friends and teammates urged him to get a background check first, which revealed several warrants and a history involving eight different aliases used in several states. Cops showed up at Dirk's mutlimillionaire mansion and hauled her off to jail. This happened in the middle of a playoff series last year in which the Mavericks were playing.

I guess it isn't so much stolen identity as it is repeatedly making up new ones.

Link (new window)

The funny thing would be if it was Andy Kaufman, pretending to be Mark Tufano, pretending to be Gary Oldman, going up for the part of Andy Kaufman in the movie. Seems just like the kind of thing Andy would do after pretending to be dead.

iollow: The Guere story is oddly similar to the Richard Gere movie "Sommersby".

That's because "Sommersby" is a rip off of "The Return of Martin Guerre" made in 1982.

/Hollywood haven't had a original thought for decades.

NorCalLos: The Dallas Cowboys fined him $5,000 for his cheerleader shenanigans, but it appears his stunts got him many times that amount in publicity.

How do the Dallas Cowboys have the authority to fine people?

They took it out of his $12,000 cheerleader salary.

I really have no idea how to pull off any of these imposter shenanigans. Kudos to them all. Seriously.

But I do know one thing. If can you get yourself a decent crew shirt with a decent-quality screen of the words "EVENT STAFF" printed on it, you can hang out in places where you're not supposed to be... with people you're not supposed to be with.

You're welcome.

The Mossad could learn a thing or two from this.

/got caught
//would've gotten away with it if it weren't for those lousy Dubai kids!

xuanzhiyouxuan: That fake russian orchestra one was quite a feat.

Yeah, it's one thing for a single person with big brass balls to bullshiat their way through a scam like this, but keeping dozens of people from slipping up seems practically impossible.

IcedInferno: Good Behavior Day: IcedInferno: /also hide-and-seek world champion, 33 A.D.-Present

Actually, Anne Frank held that title from 1942 to 1944

Yeah, too bad she couldn't see her trophy or hear the congratulatory speech.

Can't blame her. If I was as terrible a writer as she would, I wouldn't want to show my face either. I mean, c'mon? One book?

Zimmy: Can't blame her. If I was as terrible a writer as she would, I wouldn't want to show my face either. I mean, c'mon? One book?

I think you win the "terrible writer" contest.

Zimmy: Can't blame her. If I was as terrible a writer as she would, I wouldn't want to show my face either. I mean, c'mon? One book?

I am disappoint?

David Hampton (April 4, 1964 - July 18, 2003) was an American con artist who gained infamy in the 1980s after milking a group of wealthy Manhattanites out of thousands of dollars by convincing them he was Sidney Poitier's son.

Link (new window)

Geez... the orchestra one is amazing. Par for the course for Russia during that period, though. It's a good thing that those talented musicians, who were probably hard of money because of the bad economy back then, managed to pull this off.

Mr_Fabulous: I really have no idea how to pull off any of these imposter shenanigans. Kudos to them all. Seriously.

But I do know one thing. If can you get yourself a decent crew shirt with a decent-quality screen of the words "EVENT STAFF" printed on it, you can hang out in places where you're not supposed to be... with people you're not supposed to be with.

You're welcome.

Damn, that's some slack-ass security if they're not lookin' for badges and the security team has no idea who each other is.

/ which foo-foo production company fell for that?!?!?

uncletogie: Damn, that's some slack-ass security if they're not lookin' for badges and the security team has no idea who each other is.

Reminds me of this story about crashing the 2007 emmys

Read this article about Frédéric Bourdin; French crazy man.

Link (new window)

Did they even hear of these guys?!?

I also thought the hacker who made it look like then President Bill Clinton said: "I'd like to see more pornography on the internet" during his live webchat deserved an honorable mention. Couldn't find an article on it, though.

uncletogie: Mr_Fabulous: I really have no idea how to pull off any of these imposter shenanigans. Kudos to them all. Seriously.

But I do know one thing. If can you get yourself a decent crew shirt with a decent-quality screen of the words "EVENT STAFF" printed on it, you can hang out in places where you're not supposed to be... with people you're not supposed to be with.

You're welcome.

Damn, that's some slack-ass security if they're not lookin' for badges and the security team has no idea who each other is.

/ which foo-foo production company fell for that?!?!?

Well, for brevity, I left out two important details.

1. It helps to be a very conventional-looking, 47-year-old white businessman. Seriously, we get away with everything.

2. You MUST be talking into one of those push-to-talk mobile phones the entire time, and striding steadily but not too quickly, saying "I'll be right there! Just one minute!"

crack is lame. in that it is linked here every other day shows drew owns part of this washed up mess.

NorCalLos: How do the Dallas Cowboys have the authority to fine people?

You've never been to Texas, have you?

Hi, guys, author of the article here. Just to clear some stuff up:

1) Frank Abnagale: love him, think he's awesome, but everybody knows about him, so it's not surprising to include him. In general, if you're wondering why Cracked didn't include something glaringly obvious, it's generally because everybody already knows about it. Trust me, with Cracked you've got to DIG to get an article accepted.

Also, people impersonating someone else for money isn't really surprising, so I had to leave those out.

2) The Yes Men didn't really fit in with the concept as I pitched it; they don't really steal identities, per se, they just show up and identify themselves as spokesmen.

3) cats4rent, I fully endorse your position re: crack. It's a terrible drug. That's why I do angel dust.

I know an Austrian Jew who was a better hide-and-seek champion in Holland.

http://www.amazon.com/War-Came-Me-Endurance-Survival/dp/0761846891

she is still alive today

/beat Anne's record
//Jews in the Dutch Underground for the win!

http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2010/03/12/news/local/doc4b994efcb05 b8828015216.txt

more on Eva Weismann

It's like listing the most heroic soldiers and leaving out Alvin York. You simply forgot to include him.

Eh, have it your way. That's not how it shook out, but...well, realistically speaking, I'm screwed either way; either somebody's going to rip me to hell and back on the Internet for not including some item because somebody thinks it should have been on there, or I'm going to get ripped for hell and back because somebody thinks that item is too obvious.