Thanks to modern DNA testing, the era when a stranger could convincingly pose as a long‑lost relative is virtually over. Yet before the age of genetic proof, impostors relied on forged documents, shaky eyewitness testimony, and occasionally a healthy dose of bribery. Below, we count down 10 audacious fraudsters who tried to live a life that wasn’t theirs.
10 imposters who baffled their contemporaries
10 Jeanne Calment
Jeanne Calment earned fame as the world’s longest‑lived woman, reportedly reaching the astonishing age of 122. Yet a team of Russian scientists later argued that the real Calment may have been merely 99 when she died.
The investigators, a mathematician and a gerontologist, claimed that the authentic Jeanne passed away in 1934 at 59, while her daughter Yvonne assumed her mother’s identity to dodge a massive inheritance‑tax bill.
According to the theory, the mother’s body was interred under Yvonne’s name, with a death certificate issued without a doctor’s or coroner’s verification. Yvonne’s husband never remarried and reportedly lived for years alongside his “mother‑in‑law.” Photographs suggest a striking resemblance between the two, and Calment had arranged for her personal papers to be destroyed after her death.
The Russian scholars even interviewed Calment, probing her about childhood memories; while some answers were off‑base, they argued that the passage of time could explain the errors. By the time she died in 1997, she still held the record for human longevity, outliving the next contender by over three years.
Only an exhumation paired with DNA analysis could finally resolve whether Calment truly lived to 122. Regardless of the outcome, mother and daughter now rest side by side, and no one appears eager to disturb their graves.
9 Roger Tichborne
Roger Tichborne, the eldest heir of a wealthy Victorian clan, vanished when his ship sank in a ferocious Atlantic storm. His mother, refusing to accept his death, placed advertisements worldwide, begging anyone with information to come forward.
A decade later, Lady Tichborne received a letter from a man in Australia claiming to be her son. The claimant spoke with an Australian twang rather than the expected French, was noticeably heavier, and stood a few inches shorter than the real Roger. However, he possessed a peculiar physical trait—deformed genitals—that matched the genuine Tichborne’s distinguishing feature, leading his mother to accept him as her child.
To reclaim the family fortune, the impostor faced a courtroom showdown. Witnesses testified that the man was actually Arthur Orton from Wapping. The trial collapsed when the claimant failed to correctly describe the contents of a sealed envelope left with the estate manager, mistakenly claiming it held provisions for a potential pregnancy.
The fraudster, never definitively identified as Orton or anyone else, was convicted on 32 counts of perjury and sentenced to fourteen years of hard labor.
8 Perkin Warbeck
If you’re going to masquerade as someone, why not aim for the throne? That seemed to be Perkin Warbeck’s mindset when he proclaimed himself the rightful King of England.
Warbeck bore a passing resemblance to Edward IV, a similarity that bolstered his claim to be the missing Duke of York—one of the infamous “Princes in the Tower” allegedly imprisoned by the ruthless King Richard II. His claim attracted supporters eager to topple Henry VII, who had seized the crown from Richard and founded the Tudor line.
In 1496, James IV of Scotland marched into England with Warbeck at his side, but the invasion was swiftly repelled. Warbeck organized several more attempts before being captured in 1497, after which he surrendered and renounced his royal pretensions.
For a short period, Henry seemed prepared to forgive him; Warbeck was welcomed at court and even dined at royal banquets, though he remained under guard. When he tried to escape, he was recaptured, sent back to the Tower of London, and ultimately hanged in 1499.
7 The False Dmitry
Dmitry, the youngest son of Czar Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible), was believed to have died in 1591, allegedly taking his own life. Some historians argue he was murdered by the usurper Boris Godunov, while others suggest he escaped the assassination.
Three other claimants emerged, each insisting they were the surviving Dmitry. Only one, later known as the “False Dmitry,” succeeded in seizing the throne. In 1603 he rallied an army against Godunov, who tried to label the pretender as Grigory Otrepev, a runaway monk.
The uprising coincided with Godunov’s death, allowing the impostor to march unopposed into Moscow and claim the crown. He ruled for about a year, enjoying reasonable popularity among his subjects.
His reign ended dramatically in 1606 when, during his own wedding celebrations, a riot erupted, and rebels stormed the Kremlin, killing the False Dmitry. Subsequent hopes that the real Dmitry had survived sparked further civil strife, with multiple hopefuls claiming to be the resurrected prince. Whether the body dumped in Red Square belonged to Ivan IV’s son remains uncertain, though most scholars doubt it.
6 Paul Tagaris
Paul Palaiologos Tagaris, a Byzantine monk, boasted an alleged royal lineage that he used to climb the ecclesiastical ladder.
He secured ordination in the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, ostensibly to escape his marital ties. Charismatic and self‑confident, he was appointed over several bishops, only to sack them and sell their dioceses for profit.
Tagaris crowned himself Patriarch of Jerusalem, then, just before his arrest, fled to Rome. There he presented forged credentials, publicly confessed his sins, pledged allegiance to the Catholic Church, and was granted the title of Latin Patriarch of Constantinople.
His newfound piety was short‑lived; clergy in his new jurisdiction complained about exorbitant taxes. He fled again, this time to Avignon, where a rival pope resided, and offered another confession. He later returned to Constantinople, made a final public renunciation of Catholicism, and was once more forgiven. Whether his last conversion was sincere remains doubtful.
5 James Reavis
James Reavis was a cunning opportunist. During the Civil War he first served the Confederacy, making a tidy profit selling forged military leave passes.
When his scheme nearly caught up with him, he switched allegiance, joining the Union army to evade capture.
After the war, Reavis embarked on an elaborate fraud involving fabricated land titles. He concocted a slew of documents proclaiming that an ancestor—purportedly a Spanish royal official—had been granted the title “Baron of Arizona,” along with a massive tract of land to be inherited by his descendants.
While his claim languished in bureaucratic limbo, Reavis struck a deal with a railroad company, granting them access to the imaginary estate and pocketing a fortune. He also sold quit‑claims for parcels he never owned.
When the legitimacy of his claim was threatened, Reavis traveled to Spain, claiming to search for proof. Archivists there “discovered” documents that appeared to back his story, though many suspected he had planted them. Ultimately, the fraud was exposed; Reavis was convicted of forgery, sentenced to two years in prison, and fined $5,000—a relatively light punishment given his illicit gains.
4 Natalya Bilikhodze
In 2002 a press conference aired a video in which Natalya Bilikhodze claimed to be Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II, supposedly rescued from the Bolshevik massacre of 1918.
Although many impostors have surfaced over the years, Bilikhodze’s claim would have made her over a century old—101—if true.
A committee was formed to arrange Anastasia’s “homecoming” to Moscow, promising to restore her honor and even pursue the massive Romanov inheritance once her identity was verified.
The twist: Bilikhodze had actually died two years earlier, her funeral modest and uncelebrated. Her video testimony had been recorded years before her death, meaning the claim was posthumous.
When investigators uncovered the truth, the committee dissolved overnight, and its chairman promptly abandoned the effort to reinstate Anastasia’s reputation.
3 Martin Guerre
Martin Guerre is perhaps the most renowned impostor in history. A 16th‑century French peasant, he vanished in 1548 after being accused of stealing from his own father.
His wife was left in limbo for six years, unable to divorce him or prove his death—an impossible position for women of that era. When a man suddenly appeared claiming to be her long‑lost husband, she was torn between relief and suspicion.
Although the newcomer bore a physical resemblance to the real Guerre—similar height and build—and seemed familiar with family details, doubts lingered. An uncle, convinced the impostor was Arnaud du Tilh, a local villager who had gone missing, pressed the wife to sue for inheritance.
The trial featured over 150 witnesses. Some swore the man was the genuine Martin, including his four sisters, while others identified him as du Tilh. The court ultimately convicted the impostor of fraud and sentenced him to death.
Just as the judges prepared to acquit, a man with a wooden leg arrived, asserting he was the true Martin Guerre. After intense questioning, the original wife, uncle, and sisters instantly recognized him as the authentic husband, leading to du Tilh’s execution in front of the Guerre household.
2 Mary Baynton
Imagine a remote 16th‑century English village receiving a stranger who proclaimed herself the daughter of Henry VIII. That was the scenario when a woman claiming to be Princess Mary arrived in Lincolnshire.
She asserted she was the offspring of Henry and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, and recounted a prophecy from the Queen of France that she would one day endure great hardship.
She begged locals for money, claiming the king had abandoned her and that she needed funds to reach safety in Spain. While many suspected the ruse, the villagers treated her as a symbolic mascot for the supporters of Mary Tudor, who felt sidelined in the line of succession.
In reality, the impostor was Mary Baynton, a commoner. She was arrested in 1533, forced to renounce her royal pretensions, and vanished from the historical record. Ironically, the prophetic warning about “great hardship” did indeed materialize for the real Princess Mary.
1 The Countess of Derwentwater
In 1857, a woman calling herself Lady Amelia Matilda Mary Tudor Radcliffe claimed to be the granddaughter of the fourth Earl of Derwentwater, a title that had supposedly died out 120 years earlier without an heir.
She alleged that the Earl had fled his family during the Jacobite uprising and faked his death. To substantiate her claim, Lady Amelia presented a full family tree, portraits, documents, and even heirloom jewelry, all intended to prove her right to the estate now managed by a hospital trust.
The courts dismissed her claim outright.
Undeterred, Amelia turned to the press, captivating readers with her poise. She amassed donations, and in 1868 she stormed the derelict Derwentwater mansion, dressed in regal‑styled attire, brandishing a family‑sabre, and hoisting a banner over the ruined tower.
When the hospital finally evicted her—dragging her out in front of a crowd—she set up a tented camp on the adjacent road, drawing public sympathy as a “distressed gentlewoman.” She began collecting rent from self‑appointed tenants and even auctioned off the hospital’s property and livestock.
The institution sued, levying a £500 fine that forced Amelia to sell off the counterfeit heirlooms she had displayed. Historians now agree no genuine Countess of Derwentwater ever existed; the portraits and jewels were her own fabrications.