'The fake reporter wanted to know about our software'

Yeah, it starts with an interesting story then swiftly turns into a blatant ad...

Plus it felt like an ad.

It'll probably say something about arglistige Täuschung, versuchten Betrug, that kind of thing. The magazine's publisher would probably add impersonation to the list.

"I work for Google and we'd would like to … with you", "I write for the Spiegel and would like to interview you for …", "I'm a Nigerian prince and need your help to …", deception all three. That one of them involves a specific profession is not relevant.

I'm wondering if the guy could claim to be a citizen journalist.