Three Impostors Who Fascinated In Their Time

Imposters have always generated a strange fascination in others. They are usually resourceful and skillful people, although with an obvious sociopathic trait. Even so, the influence they have on others is so great that they end up making their own fantasy come true for those around them.

There are several impostors who have become famous, either because of the perfection with which they have concocted their deceptions  or because of their magnitude. People endowed with a huge imagination, but who often use it in an inappropriate way. In them there is not only an interest in achieving a specific purpose, but they also feel satisfaction in deceiving others.

In everyday life we ​​meet such liars many times. They assume their impostures to obtain specific benefits. The typical sociopath is not satisfied with that, but goes so far as to construct fictions worthy of a novel. The most striking thing is that they get others to believe them. For the sample, these three impostors who made history.

1. The famous princess Caraboo

Princess Caraboo was one of the most famous impostor cases of her time, to the point where several plays were written to commemorate her. The story is that of a woman who was found on the street, wearing unusual clothes and speaking in a strange language, which no one understood. She was brought before the magistrate of Gloucestershire, England, Samuel Worrall.

He and his wife were very intrigued by the case. However, they eventually decided to send her to hospice. The young woman did not eat and did not sleep, so they made her return home, as the intrigue persisted. The woman’s fame grew and one day a Portuguese sailor arrived at the place. He assured that he knew the language in which the woman spoke.

Thus, he “translated” what he said. She was a princess, coming from far eastern lands. She had been kidnapped by a pirate ship and had finally been saved by swimming. Since then the “Princess Caraboo” was given noble treatment, until a woman recognized her.

Actually, she was the daughter of a shoemaker and her name was Mary Wilicocks. Princess Carraboo clarified her non-existent identity and the benefactors believed that it was best to send her to America, a place she wanted to see. He returned to Europe some time later and managed to fool a couple of dupes again. We leave you the story of the great Juan Antonio Cebrián, no one like him to tell this story, and his companions in the gathering.

2. David Hampton, one of the great impostors

Apparently it all started when David Hampton stole a college student’s agenda. In it, several important contacts that the student had appeared. With these data, Hampton went to New York and posed as the son of the famous actor Sidney Poitier.

Hampton is considered one of the most skilled imposters. With the agenda, he got to establish contact with movie celebrities and managed to give him accommodation and the life of a king. They all thought they were helping the son of a dear friend.

Hampton not only misled several celebrities, such as Mellanie Griffith, but also the president of the New York public television channel and a dean of Columbia University. It was the latter who finally found out. Hampton’s life inspired the movie Six Degrees of Separation .

3. Kaycee Nicole Swenson, a massive hoax

Another of the most famous impostors was Kaycee Nicole Swenson. The setting this time was the Internet, a space that is more than apt to deceive the unwary. It all started when a 19-year-old girl started publishing an online diary. He suffered from cancer and wanted to share the details of his fight against this disease.

For two years he was online and in that time he managed to conquer followers from all over the world. Most of them were very moved by the girl’s situation and also took her as a source of inspiration. Many called her on the phone and sent her gifts. There were also those who declared their love for him.

However, on any given day, only the image of a rose appeared on his page. Next to it was a sign that said “ Thank you for the love, the joy, the laughter and the tears. We will always love them . ” Kaycee had died and this shocked many of her followers. Some of them, however, had doubts and investigated.

Thus they discovered that Kaycee had never existed. It was a character created by the mind of Debbie Swenson, a 40-year-old housewife. She did it, according to her, to prove how fallacious the Internet was. The FBI decided not to open charges, as she never asked for money, although some followers did send it to her on their own initiative.