reply
I’ll second what @Jade said: It would be cool to see your El Capitan sketch, @Zoe!
Excellent news, @J.R. Hope your buddy can join in the Forum fandom.
So, while we’re waiting on a new discussion topic, I thought I’d share two real-life “fakers” that are my favorites from history:
- Gregor MacGregor, who served in the British armed forces in the 1800s, basically did the El Capitan scheme but instead of a car he made up an entire country. He swindled hundreds of investors out of all their savings when they gave him money to purchase land in “Poyais,” a country that totally didn’t exist. Dozens of people who thought they were the new owners of grand estates in Poyais traveled to where MacGregor said it was–and a bunch of them died in the jungle that he claimed was prime land.
- Frank Abagnale pretended he was an airline pilot. And a university professor. And a doctor. And a lawyer. And he became a master of faked documents. And he was such a skilled con artist that (1) the FBI asked him to work for the bureau, and (2) a movie was made about his life: Catch Me If You Can. (The funny thing is, the only part of that we know for certain is true is the movie, starring Leo DiCaprio. All the rest of it might be one big ongoing scam. Abagnale is still alive, still telling stories, and no one can prove any of it is true (or false).)