(http://web.archive.org/web/20010624115154/http://forums.anan...)
(http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=275172)
Fakery on the Internet is fascinating and very very common. People fake having cancer; people fake their own situation; people fake their friends. The movie Catfish is a nice exploration of one person's fakery. (It would have been easy to say "OMG SHE'S MENTAL LOL" but it's a surprisingly gentle confrontation and you end up somewhat sympathetic to her.)
Here are some other notable fakes:
SEXTORTION AT EISENHOWER HIGH
(http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/200907/wisconsin-...)
> Last year, an awkward high school senior in Wisconsin went online, passed himself off as a flirtatious female student, and conned dozens of his male classmates into e-mailing him sexually explicit images of themselves. What he did next will likely send him to jail for a very long time
DAVE ON WHEELS
(http://betabeat.com/2012/10/meet-hunter-dunn-the-young-man-w...)
> Followers of “Dave” on sites like Twitter and The Chive thought they were reading posts from a deaf young man suffering from cerebral palsy who had worked tirelessly to overcome his obstacles, all the while maintaining a positive outlook and relatably wry sense of humor.
KAYCEE NICOLE / DEBBIE SWENSON
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2001/may/28/internetnew...)
> For two years, a young American girl recounted her brave struggle against leukaemia in a daily online diary. This month she died. Thousands of web-users sent condolences. But [...]
(http://web.archive.org/web/20050115092141/http://www.rootnod...)
(http://www.metafilter.com/7878/The-Kaycee-Nicole-Swensen-Faq)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaycee_Nicole_Swenson)
THE LYING DISEASE - in which a cancer patient is befriended by another cancer patient, who is faking cancer. (Happens three times.)
(http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-lying-disease/Content...)
WARRIOR ELI - a ten year hoax
(http://gawker.com/5914621/the-long-fake-life-of-js-dirr-a-de...)