Hoaxes
These goos are from the Hoaxes category, people famous for their involvement in a famous hoax, prank, or lie. Browse another way.
Alex Malarkey
People shouldn't have been so quick to believe this boy's story about visiting Heaven. After all, his last name is another word for falsehood. Go »
Alisha Hessler
What would she have called her reality show? Busom Buddies? Triple Threat? Mammory in the Middle? Go »
Allegra Coleman
I'd be glad to read more about this actress if she were more honorable. Go »
Anna Anderson
Polish factory worker or Russian grand duchess? Go »
Anna Sorokin
She went from Russia to Germany and to France within New York City, unless that was all another invention too. Go »
Artur Samarin
You're not supposed to go through high school twice, but maybe if your first time was in the Ukraine it doesn't count? Go »
Brian Kolfage
This military person wanted to try and fund money for Trump's wall, but getting it past Congress turned out not to be his biggest concern. Go »
Charles Dawson
This amateur archaeologist is the most likely suspect of the fraudulent discovery of Eoanthropus Dawsoni. Go »
Charles Ingram
To identify one of Europe's most notorious cheaters, you'll have to be familiar with Google. Go »
Charles Van Doren
Please don't believe I've given anyone the answer in advance. Go »
David Hampton
If you don't know the answer, you're only five steps away from someone who does. Go »
Donald Crowhurst
He sailed around the world, never leaving the Atlantic Ocean. Go »
Edward Mordrake
Janus of the modern day: A century after this hoax was invented, its story is still being retold. Go »
Emperor Norton I
From rice baron to saint, the Emperor of America captured the hearts of San Franciscans with a bloodless coup. Go »
F.D.C. Willard
For all of his published scholarly works, he has yet to author a paper on felis domesticus. Go »
Falcon Heene
Maybe this kid saw Up too many times. Go »
Frank Abagnale Jr.
They couldn't figure out his identity for five years, so do it yourself... if you can. Go »
George Gill Green
This medical huckster was successful enough to buy his own hotel. Go »
Gosiame Thamara Sithole
Having babies is a happy thing but having a bunch of babies can be painful. So can being admitted to a psychiatric ward. Go »
Guido Russo
I'm here for my vaccination. No, no, that's my real arm. Ignore that rubbery feel. Go »
Helen Duncan
This psychic claimed knowledge of naval incidents before the news hit the homefront, but British law didn't tolerate witchcraft. Go »
JT LeRoy
For a Gen-X novelist concerned with deceit in the hearts of fictional characters, he (she?) sure went to a lot of trouble to commit deceit in public appearances as a fictional author. Go »
James Miranda Barry
Medicine was no big secret to this fruity physician or his patients. Go »
Jamie Keeton
You don't need a cupholder when having drinks with this Chicagoan. Go »
John Herschel
Life on the moon! Too bad the telescope that made this discovery burned down the observatory. Go »
John Mark Karr
Don't claim you got this goo if you're only looking for attention in Thailand. Go »
Jussie Smollett
After he was indicted for faking a hate crime against him, one could ask: Is he really even a Chicago-based actor who has appeared in Empire and Marshall? Go »
Kodee Kennings
Illinois students hungry for truth should look beyond this Iraqi war orphan. Go »
Konrad Kujau
Der Fuhrer? Really? See you in four and a half years. Keep a journal. Go »
Lani Sarem
Her YA novel became a handbook for scamming your way onto the bestseller list for a single day. Go »
Lonelygirl15
This 15-year-old wouldn't feel so alone if she knew you were watching her life on your screen. Go »
Mamoru Samuragochi
He wasn't able to hear his own acclaimed work in a digital medium, except that he was and it wasn't. Go »
Mark Grenon
Selling bleach as a cure for COVID-19 was as credible as the second book of Genesis, according to both this podcasting patriarch and the public prosecutors in his trial this week. Go »
Mark Sargent
This behatted YouTuber's numbers have been anything but flat ever since he started giving a world-spanning conspiracy-believing community its marching orders. Go »
Mary Johnston
Planning a trip to Scotland? A popular travel website lists this resident in their top 100 attractions. Go »
Michaele Salahi
When she and her husband wanted to get into the White House, they didn't wait for an engraved invitation. Go »
Misha Defonseca
Lately, the authenticity of the Holocaust memoir has really gone to the wolves. Go »
Nathan Zohner
This Idaho teenager wasn't the first to warn people of the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide, but he was the first to get a pseudoscience term named after him. Go »
Oobah Butler
London's #1 restaurateur didn't have to travel far from home for inspiration. Go »
P.T. Barnum
This showman captured the public's imagination with so many manufactured untruths and poorly-sourced curiosities that the phrase "there's a sucker born every minute" became attributed to him... but that was false, too. Go »
Piltdown Man
So what if you can't prove evolution? It will take them forty years to figure out you took a shortcut. Go »
Rachel Dolezal
You don't have to be a CP to run a local chapter of the NAACP, but it sure helps. Go »
Ray Santilli
He shouldn't open alien bodies to see what killed them. Go »
Richard Montañez
Thanks to his understanding of the Latino snack market, he went from cleaning the executive's office to occupying it, but a newspaper investigation revealed that the only thing truly on fire was his pants. Go »
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo
This Hawaiian prankster became the pretend girlfriend of his favorite Notre Dame player. Go »
Rosie Ruiz
She stole the hearts of many a runner by using shortcuts. Go »
Seth Rich
If you like conspiracy theories about leaked emails, Sean Hannity has a rich one for you. Go »
Simon Leviev
He's inglorious and notorious for using an app to contact and distract his victims, and now Netflix metrics say his story's a hit. Go »
Susan Smith
Don't expect much sympathy if you tearfully blame your incorrect guess on an African-American man who "stole" your keyboard, when instead you drowned it in a lake. Go »
Sylvia Browne
This self-described psychic, now two years deceased, had critics seeing red (and brown) when her claims in several missing-persons cases turned out to be false. Go »
Tania Head
She was the only 9/11 survivor to have been in Barcelona at the time. Go »
Tawana Brawley
She was either raped, beaten, burned, and left for dead, or a pawn in a conspiracy to smear the NYPD. Go »
The Turk
In the goo game, it's easy to tell that a human being has beaten you, but in other games two centuries ago, it wasn't so easy. Go »
Thomas Cochrane
Although le Loup des Mers was successful in nearly all of his naval actions, his insider trading hoax led to his dismissal from the House of Commons. Ironically, he ran on the stance of Parliamentary reform. Go »
Wendy Bergen
When she claimed to report objectively about a bloody sport in Denver, it turned out that she had a dog in the fight. Go »
