impersonation news stories on Newser

Principal Impersonated Teen on Facebook to Spy

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:19:43 CDT

A Missouri high school principal resigned last week, one month after she was first accused of impersonating a student on Facebook so she could spy on students and parents online. The profile for "Suzy Harriston" claimed she was from Clayton; many of her 300 Facebook friends were from Clayton High...

Kid, 17, Dupes Fla. Hospital, Snags ER Job

Mark Russell — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 07:45:06 CDT

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on charges of impersonating a physician's assistant and working in a Florida hospital's emergency room for a week, reports the Orlando Sentinel . Police say Matthew Scheidt dressed in a lab coats and surgical scrubs, conducted physical exams, and reportedly even gave CPR to a...

Syrian Ambassador: That Wasn't Me Who Quit on TV

Rob Quinn — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:04:26 CDT

Syria's ambassador to France, hours after apparently announcing her resignation during a telephone interview with news network France24, now says she was impersonated. Lamia Shakkour appeared on camera on another French TV network and said she plans to sue France24 over its "campaign of falsification of information and disinformation," the...

Fake Soldiers Scam Facebook Users

Rob Quinn — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:02:05 CST

Facebook users need to watch out for a shameful scam that appears to be becoming more widespread, military officials warn. Con artists have been using the photos and details of real soldiers to strike up romances with women on the social networking site, the AP reports. The phony soldiers declare...

How a 'Slimy' Facebook Prank Took Over My Life

Evann Gastaldo — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 12:00:56 CST

Susan Arnout Smith is a writer of thrillers, plays, TV movies, and NPR essays. But for a long time, if you looked her up on Facebook, you would find not the respectable website of a published author, but an obscene, pornographic site of a fake persona “trolling for sex,” she...

Fey Wins Emmy for Impersonating Palin

John Johnson — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:40:52 CDT

Tina Fey took home an Emmy tonight for her dead-on impersonation of Sarah Palin during the campaign, reports the Hollywood Reporter . Fey's work on Saturday Night Live won a Creative Arts Emmy—these honor guest spots and technical achievements, preceding next week's main ceremony—for best guest actress in a...

Critic Fights Copycat for Twitter Identity

Matt Cantor — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:46:00 CDT

A restaurant reviewer and her lawyers are after a man who’s been tweeting and blogging under her name, the New York Times reports. Adam Robb Rucinsky has been spoofing New York Daily News critic Danyelle Freeman, aka Restaurant Girl, imitating her distinctive style in posts using both her monikers. Freeman’s...

Twitter Dumps Fake Dalai Lama

Matt Cantor — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 06:00:58 CST

Twitter has suspended an account that falsely claimed to belong to the Dalai Lama, AFP reports. Billing itself as the spiritual leader’s “official” Twitter feed, the account emerged Saturday and quickly drew a whopping 20,000 followers. The account’s web page included a photo from the Dalai Lama’s real website...

No Misunderestimating Ferrell as Dubya

Will McCahill — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:05:49 CST

It’s not quite a landslide, but critics mainly agree that Will Ferrell gets his mission accomplished in lampooning the 43rd president with his Broadway show, You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush . Though Saturday Night Live viewers will see the “retread” in Ferrell’s “loopy extrapolation” on Bush,...