9. HEATHER GARCIA
In August 2019, officers in Davis County, Utah
pulled over a silver BMW after they noticed that the car was missing a license plate.
and that she was born in 1998, which would make her around 21 years old at the time. It became
clear to officers while conducting a records check that the woman was trying to pass as her daughter.
Garcia was most likely trying to use the young woman’s identity to avoid facing
multiple outstanding warrants that had been issued in her name.
Unfortunately for her, officers didn’t buy it. They charged Garcia with drug possession,
driving with a revoked license, and giving false information to a police officer.
8. AUDREY NICOLE FRANCISQUINI People will do a lot of crazy
things to gain a social media following. Some are even willing to risk an arrest.
Audrey Nicole Francisquini used to work as a sheriff’s deputy in DeKalb County,
Georgia. In 2017, she allegedly hacked into a colleague’s phone and posted the woman’s nude
photos on Instagram and SnapChat. She resigned after being put on administrative leave.
But the career-destroying move apparently didn’t motivate Francisquini to use social media more
responsibly. In an apparent attempt to gain influencer status, the 28-year-old attempted
to disguise herself as a teenage skateboarder and snuck into the prom at a high school in Hialeah,
Florida last year. She went around handing out pamphlets containing her Instagram name to the
students in hopes of boosting her following. A suspicious staff member tried sending the
woman to the school’s registration office, but Francisquini reportedly ignored the command
and began wandering the hallways. Security ordered her to leave, but she allegedly refused.
It wasn’t until administrators were made aware of a “potential threat on campus”
that Audrey fled the scene. Police tracked her down
through her social media accounts and charged her with burglary, trespassing, and resisting arrest.
7. CASEY GARCIA
Sometimes, people campaign for respectable causes, but completely miss the mark with their delivery.
Take, for example, 30-year-old Casey Garcia, who disguised herself as her 13-year-old daughter
and spent the day at the girl’s middle school in El Paso County, Texas to prove that they need to
improve their security. In a YouTube video she posted after the so-called “social experiment,”
the concerned mother claimed that the school’s employees seemed unconcerned
with verifying her identity. Garcia accused the staff of being too preoccupied with monitoring
students’ cell phone use to really care about making sure that she was who she said she was.
Given her petite, 4’11” (1.5 meters) frame, it’s almost understandable that
Garcia was mistaken for a child. But she went unnoticed for nearly the entire school day,
even when she was the only student in the classroom.
It wasn’t until the final period that a teacher noticed an imposter seated at one of the desks.
Garcia apologized to the school district and its staff in her YouTube video. She said that she
thinks they’re wonderful people, and that she’s “sorry it had to be them.” Regardless
of the point she was trying to convey, it came at the cost of getting in trouble with the police,
who charged Garcia with criminal trespassing and tampering with government records.
6. LAURA OGLESBY A lot of parents live vicariously
through their children. Some take it a step further and try to actually become their child.
Laura Oglesby was in her 40s when she decided to steal her daughter’s identity and live like
she was in her 20s. The ruse began in 2016, when she fraudulently obtained a Social Security card
and a driver’s license in the 22-year-old’s name. She enrolled in classes at a college in Missouri,
which she paid for using financial aid and student loans that she applied for as her daughter,
embezzling $25,000 in the process. Oglesby managed to pull off the scam for two years
while working at a library and dating much younger men, who were totally unaware of her true age.
Local authorities finally caught on in 2018 after receiving a tip from police in Arkansas
about the identity theft. They pulled Oglesby over and presented her with proof that she was
lying about who she was. She said that she had lied because she was fleeing a domestic violence
situation, but the claim was never verified. Mountain View Police Detective Stetson Schwien
told local station KY3 that Oglesby had “completely adopted a younger lifestyle,”
including “clothing, makeup, and personality.” She pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally
furnishing false information to the Social Security Administration and was ordered to
pay restitution to the university that she scammed and to her daughter, whose credit was ruined by
Ogleby’s selfish actions. 5. GLENN A. FRENCH
In 2019, a retired rabbi from the small city of Jamestown in Western New York
ran for the state Senate. Uriel Isaacovich told the Olean Times-Herald that he was 68 years old,
and that he served in the U.S. military in Vietnam from 1969 to 1972, between the ages of 18 and 21.
He also claimed to be an Israeli army veteran. But some very concerning inconsistencies began
to surface when Libertarian party officials asked Isaacovich to furnish his military
discharge papers, along with proof of his two college degrees from universities in Florida. He
claimed that his service in the Israeli army was “classified” and refused to provide proof of his
U.S. military service, arguing that the documents contained highly personal information like his
Social Security number. Isaacovich also said that Florida’s privacy laws prevented the Libertarian
party from being able to verify his education. If it seems a little fishy, that’s because it is!
Party officials decided not to endorse the candidate due to concerns about his authenticity.
Soon after that, the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office charged the man, whose real name is Glenn
A. French, for falsely impersonating a veteran. He was accused of using the
Isaacovich alias on a forged discharge form, which he allegedly used to fraudulently obtain benefits
from a veteran-focused nonprofit. Deputies also stated that French was 63 years old,
which means he would have been too young to fight in Vietnam.
The wannabe politician insisted that he had just turned 69 years old. He admitted that he may have
embellished some of the details about his military career, but claimed that he did actually serve.
French also said that his military and educational background were nobody’s business but his own.
But that’s simply not true when someone wants to pursue a career in politics,
according to Chautauqua County Libertarian Party Chairman Andrew Martin Kolstee,
who told the Olean Times-Herald that it’s normal to thoroughly vet candidates before agreeing to
endorse them. Needless to say, French’s political ambitions didn’t work out.
4. RUDY REED Police in Victorville, California recently noticed
a man responding to traffic incidents in a white Crown Victoria that looked a lot like an unmarked
patrol car and blocking the road in the same way an officer does while investigating a crash.
But they knew that the driver didn’t work for them and that the car didn’t belong to the department,
so they pulled the vehicle over to figure out what, exactly, was going on.
The man behind the wheel was an 18-year-old Ohio resident named Rudy Reed. He was wearing
a Toledo Police hoodie and his car was filled with police equipment, including pepper spray,
ballistic armor, and LAPD patches. Reed also had a fake gun in his possession.
A search of his residence turned up even more gear,
including LAPD uniforms and hats; a California Highway Patrol hat,
radio and lighting equipment, police belts, gun holsters, radios, handcuffs, and more fake guns,
as well as imitation tasers. Police charged Reed with impersonating a police officer.
He was released the next day with a citation, but the investigation is ongoing. Detectives
believe that there may be more victims and are urging anyone with information to come forward.
3. EMMA CHARLTON Some people commit fraud
as a lifestyle and just can’t seem to pull themselves away from it, no matter how much
trouble it gets them in. British serial fraudster Emma Charlton has made news headlines numerous
times for swindling unsuspecting men and taking advantage of friends and relatives. It seems like
every time she’s released from prison, it’s not long before she slips back into her old ways.
By 2014, she had conned at least seven men to the tune of thousands of dollars. Emma was just
four months out of a three-year prison term for her previous scam and was still on probation
when she pulled one of her more elaborate schemes, convincing a man named Chris Lashford that she was
a hairstylist and the daughter of a prestigious judge. Going by the name Amelia Chadwick,
she also claimed that her brother was a lawyer. The clever con artist hired Lashford as her
personal bodyguard, promising a six-figure salary and a company car. She said that her life was in
danger and tasked him with protecting her. But instead of paying Lashford, Emma took from him.
She managed to make off with at least $10,000 and used the victim’s credit card to buy an iPad and
pay for hotel rooms, meals, and other expenses. Lashford ran out of money after just a few days.
He became suspicious when Emma failed to repay him, claiming that her father had frozen her
accounts. When she left the room, he went into her wallet and found cards in her real name.
All it took to realize he’d been scammed was a Google search, which
turned up articles about Emma’s past crimes. She wound up back behind bars for 18 months,
meaning that it was only a matter of time before she scammed her next victim.
2. TRINA JOHNSON-FINN The concept of a celebrity
impersonator was unheard-of to most people in Suriname in 2010, when concert attendees filled
a stadium in Paramaribo thinking that they were about to see the singer Toni Braxton perform.
But the concert was actually a tribute performance by Trina Johnson-Finn, a singer from Las Vegas who
boasts an impressive resume. In the past, she had spent five years touring with MC Hammer,
sang back-up for Barbra Streisand, and performed with various bands and in musicals.
None of this mattered to the disappointed fans in Paramaribo, who made it clear by the second
song that they were angry. And it wasn’t just the disapproving facial expressions that conveyed the
message – the crowd was so irate, they began throwing bottles at the stage.
In addition to being unfamiliar with tribute performances, fans were fooled by the concert’s
promoter, who had advertised the concert as a genuine Toni Braxton show. Officials accused
Johnson-Finn and her husband, Raymond, of intentionally deceiving the audience,
who paid up to $53 per ticket. They were questioned by police the day after the show,
and were detained at the airport when they went to catch their flight home.
The couple were thrown in jail and charged with fraud. Raymond was released several
weeks later. By then, he’d lost his job and had to sell their assets to pay legal fees.
Trina remained locked up for 4-and-a-half months while her case played out in court. Her lawyers
proved that she had entered a contract for the performance specifically as a tribute act, and
that the promoter was to blame for the confusion. He turned himself in and admitted to fraud.
It took some time for Trina and Raymond to heal emotionally and financially, but they got back on
their feet. A year after the ordeal, the singer told the Las Vegas Sun that she had reached a
point where she was able to look back and laugh. 1. ANNA DELVEY
Nobody knew who the woman who called herself Anna Delvey was when she first appeared on the
New York City social scene around 2013. But the people who served her at the upscale hotels, bars,
and restaurants she frequented got to know her very quickly. As they say, money talks,
and Delvey was extremely generous, handing out $100 tips to employees for delivering her packages
and engaging in small talk. She also wore designer clothing and made other obvious displays of
wealth. But where did all that money come from? Anna depicted herself as a trust fund baby who
was in the process of opening a club. It was believable, since she frequently hosted meetings
and dinners that were attended by CEOs, celebrities, and other powerful people.
But Delvey was no socialite, and she certainly wasn’t rich. Her real name is Anna Sorokin.
She comes from a modest working-class family that lives in Germany and acquired almost all her money
fraudulently. The young woman routinely passed bad checks and provided false financial documents to
get her hands on some cash. And as businesses caught on to the forgeries and deception,
it became more and more difficult for her to obtain money.
In the meantime, Anna’s friends caught on to her habit of casually asking them to cover bills or
put plane tickets on their credit card, only to “forget” to pay them back. She also sometimes
moved in with friends with the understanding that she’d pay rent,
and then didn’t pay. People became even more suspicious when businesses contacted
them looking for her because she hadn’t paid her bill after a hotel stay or an expensive meal.
Anna’s friend attempted an intervention on her out-of-control lifestyle, but their wisdom fell
on deaf ears. By then, she had fallen under legal scrutiny anyway. She wound up facing grand larceny
charges and served three years and three months of a 4-to-12 year prison sentence. Sadly, most
of the con artist’s victims were left to clean up the financial messes Anna left in her wake,
and many are still fighting in court to recoup at least some of their losses.
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