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I tracked down my impostor

theguardian.com

71–80 of 248 posts

Re: I tracked down my impostor

#71
post #39

Getting the same tattoos as your target? That's one dedicated identity thief.

But a sad thing overall, imagine he's stuck with this identity now but it no longer bears fruits for him. I assume this person didn't have much of an identity in the first place..

Re: I tracked down my impostor

#72
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s some dedication. And some nerve. I wonder why he’d try that in academia; there are probably other jobs in which his skills would be more useful.

Nice burn. Joking aside, I agree. There is so many things you could achieve while successfully impersonating someone. Seems like the best you can do in academia is to ruin someone's career. In this case it seemed fortunately "harmless" though.

Academia is one where the chickens won’t come home to roost - as in you won’t actually be called to DO what you’re impostering to be able to do.

Fake being a surgeon and they’ll assign you to surgery, etc.

Re: I tracked down my impostor

#73
post #60
post #27

Well they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (that mediocrity can pay to greatness). I wonder what this imposter thinks every time he looks down at the tattoos on his hands that will remind him of what he's done for quite a while, if not forever.

Right? Hopefully he didn't get them purely for the scam. He could genuinely like the tatts and general style of the guy. Hipster kitsch isn't even that unique.

That's what I was thinking. The picture reminded me of that one story about a Hipster going after some website over an article claiming all Hipster look alike that he found used his picture without permission ... only to find out that it wasn't him.

From the pictures of him and his colleague it seems that the people who study tattoos are into getting tattoos as well, I find it absolutely plausible that the guy got them separately. It's not like Letters On Fingers is such a new concept that everyone who does that copied him.

Re: I tracked down my impostor

#74
post #25
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the person telling a story is a real person and it's been printed in not only the Guardian but the BBC and I assume elsewhere. These are news organizations that do at least a modicum of fact-checking.

And the guy is clearly a real scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0g9Hm1cAAAAJ&hl=en...

I noticed that. It's why afaic the most plausible explanation — considering the incredible claims — is that this is part of some experiment that has socially redeeming value.

Re: I tracked down my impostor

#75
post #72
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice burn. Joking aside, I agree. There is so many things you could achieve while successfully impersonating someone. Seems like the best you can do in academia is to ruin someone's career. In this case it seemed fortunately "harmless" though.

Academia is one where the chickens won’t come home to roost - as in you won’t actually be called to DO what you’re impostering to be able to do. Fake being a surgeon and they’ll assign you to surgery, etc.

You should listen to the “dr death” podcast [1]. Season one was actually terrifying and is, in fact, what happens when an imposter pretends to be a surgeon.

[1] https://wondery.com/shows/dr-death/

Re: I tracked down my impostor

#76
post #6

Reminds me of something I experienced on HN and Reddit, though my case was a far less significant level. I posted a comment on HN in response to some article about Emacs. Later that day I saw someone had copied my comment word for word in reply to the same article on Reddit. I still have no idea why someone would do that. I thought at first it was some kind of karma farming operation but the post history of the Reddi…

Did it make sense in the thread on reddit? There are a couple of bots (I hope) on Stack Overflow that re-post answers to other questions that are vaguely related based on keywords or tags. They usually didn't make sense in the question context, but were upvoted by people for some reason.

Maybe they're upvoted by other bots as well?

Re: I tracked down my impostor

#77
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The claim is unusual. My guess is this article (or the alleged events it describes) is part of someone's art project or experiment.

Well, the person telling a story is a real person and it's been printed in not only the Guardian but the BBC and I assume elsewhere. These are news organizations that do at least a modicum of fact-checking.

  These are news organizations that do at least a 
  modicum of fact-checking.
Depending on the situation, it could be impossible for a fact-checker to prove that the two people in the story had an agreement and a prior relationship. Not to mention, it's a novelty item in the 'Lifestyle' section, not a report on an arms accord or something.

Re: I tracked down my impostor

#78
post #6

Reminds me of something I experienced on HN and Reddit, though my case was a far less significant level. I posted a comment on HN in response to some article about Emacs. Later that day I saw someone had copied my comment word for word in reply to the same article on Reddit. I still have no idea why someone would do that. I thought at first it was some kind of karma farming operation but the post history of the Reddi…

> I still have no idea why someone would do that. It's a fundamental way to learn. E.g., suppose people tell me I'm a real funny person. Let me test that. 1. I remember a joke from a professional funny person widely considered to be one of the best. 2. I tell that joke to the people who told me I'm a real funny person. 3. I measure the laughter I get. If the laughter is different-- e.g., if the people tell me this is…

Copying a post is completely unlike this. There is nothing in doing so that compares to improving one's delivery of a joke.

Re: I tracked down my impostor

#79
post #6

Reminds me of something I experienced on HN and Reddit, though my case was a far less significant level. I posted a comment on HN in response to some article about Emacs. Later that day I saw someone had copied my comment word for word in reply to the same article on Reddit. I still have no idea why someone would do that. I thought at first it was some kind of karma farming operation but the post history of the Reddi…

Maybe they think it's the smart thing to do - in fact, maybe they have a degree in doing it!

Re: I tracked down my impostor

#80
post #6

Reminds me of something I experienced on HN and Reddit, though my case was a far less significant level. I posted a comment on HN in response to some article about Emacs. Later that day I saw someone had copied my comment word for word in reply to the same article on Reddit. I still have no idea why someone would do that. I thought at first it was some kind of karma farming operation but the post history of the Reddi…

I think there are some direct ways to profit (like "recommending" items from amazon that are from top-sales statistics)

I wonder at all the indirect ways though. Maybe the account is enhanced to a reasonable reputation and is "banked" for later. Maybe there are levels of reputation that unlock abilities either on or off the site.

Or maybe some people are addicted to those silly internet points.

I'm surprised HN has a visible "score". I remember other sites would cap it at some value, basically reputation: excellent.

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