'Fakesters' Find Fame on Social Media

Everyone wants to be a gangster. Even some who aren't.

REVISED: Sonny Girard was in his early twenties -- a young mobster on the rise, back when it was still possible to live a mobster's life. The good old days, as they say.

Let's picture a sunny afternoon. Our pal Sonny is blinking in the sunlight, maybe flaming a Zippo in front of a cigar he mouthed and is gently puffing. His expensive, Italian-made suit is resplendent, fitted to his body to perfection -- like a glove; his shirt and tie match in a manner that would have made Versace weep. His freshly manicured fingernails perhaps glint in the sunlight. His hair is neatly trimmed and well-coiffed, his shoes shine like mirrors.

He is standing in front of a storefront that houses a business he owns.

"I had a car service with an office in the back where I made book over the phone," he says.

"One day I walk out of the back and see a cute girl waiting for a car. I introduced myself and asked her if she'd like me to take her wherever she was going.

"The last name she had given my dispatcher was a pretty famous mob name. When she got in the car she told me those guys were her uncles. As we drove she noticed it wasn't in the direction of her house. When she pointed it out, I told her that her uncles were pals of mine and I was taking her to see them. She became undone. The name was right, but there was no relation."




Work and Education


People pretending to be mobsters, or "connected" to them, is nothing new. Some people, who are insecure, or maybe leading dull lives, try to spruce it up. Creating a Mafia mystique where there is none is one surefire way to do that, especially if you are lucky enough to have a surname that matches those of famous mobsters -- say Gambino, Luchese, Bonanno, Gotti, Castellano... the list goes one.

But with the rise of social media, this trend is exploding. Now, it is easier than ever for people to create an identity for themselves; they can fashion it out of thin air and invent any name they want. And they can use any photo they want, from the Internet or anywhere else. Then they can go online and in the world of Twitter and Facebook, pretend they are "someone."

So why do they do it? For the obvious reasons: to gain attention, popularity, deference -- maybe even a degree of fear. With the popularity of shows like Mob Wives and I Married a Mobster, maybe they even crave sympathy, or are just looking for friends who will look up to them.

This is more prevalent than you think. These people aren't even wannabes; you ask me, they are borderline mentally ill. For some, maybe even forget the "borderline."

Sonny is less polite about this type of troll, but he has earned that right sitting in a prison cell for a decade. "They're retards," he says.

He told me of another example of a fakester: "I even had a [mobster] friend of mine with a unique nickname run across someone he didn't know who threw his own name around TO HIM [the very guy whose nickname it was]."

One of these fakesters even entered my life and although I hate to admit it, I fell for it, hook, line and sinker. She posts beautiful sexy pictures of herself, or so I thought; to this day, I don't know if some, all or any of the pics she posts are really her. She also claims to be the daughter of a famous Mafia informant of a generation ago. She told me he has a book coming out, too.

I did some checking after a while, after things started not sounding right. I have law enforcement connections; a friend of mine did some research.

"There is no info on [him] writing a book or wanting too or ever intending too as well," she says of the elderly former mobster who is in the Witness Protection program.

My law enforcement friend actually thought I was joking with her about the book.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Do you know how old that man is, and he is not well either. He does not have any daughters; that chick is a clown. He is lucky he can still hold a pen and he doesn't have the wits to write a book and there is no way possible for him to get someone to do it for him."

Let me reiterate that this man has not claimed to have any daughters and none are known to exist, nor does he have any young woman for that matter in his home taking care of him. Also, he lives in an entirely different state than the woman claiming to be his daughter, who also says pridefully that she shaves her "dad" every day.

I also gave my friend the Fed the name the "fakester" was using. "Never heard of her," was the reply.

Still I did my own checking - I could find no mention of a book from this guy -- which the fakester said was coming out soon; you'd think the publisher would want to promote it. I found no mention of a daughter either.

I don't like doing this as I think for someone to engage in this kind of behavior, they have to be ill to some degree; I gain no pleasure from this "outing"; and I feel sorry for her, in a way. THAT IS WHY I WILL NOT NAME HER.

But at the same time I believe these people -- though they will never stop unless properly exposed -- need to at least know that some of us are on to them.

The fakester I fell for, of course, does not represent my only encounter with such a fakester. But I was familiar enough with the details and had the right connection to run her through the system to see what came out the other end.


Now there are always loopholes. This famous elderly informant could've had a goomah (or cumare? However you spell it -- mob slang for a lover outside of marriage) who in turn had his daughter. But it certainly doesn't sound that way, and the former mobster in question never claimed her. Bottom line, she has offered no proof either. I asked for a pic of her with him; I asked for the name of his book. No response. And she blocked me on Twitter when I started asking too many questions.


Owing to the subject matter I write about, I run into all kinds. Last week I had an interesting exchange with someone. I ran my logo, as seen on top of this website, on my Facebook page. A woman asked me if I could take it down -- the image of a dead Lilo sunbathing on the patio was too upsetting for her, for personal reasons. Was she one of Galante's relatives? I didn't ask. I took it down and put up a pic of Anastasia lounging dead in the barbershop. No one seems to care about the Mad Hatter anymore...


I asked one of my sources. "I wouldn't have taken it down just on her say-so," he said.


Adds Sonny: "I would have told them that since that is a widely distributed photo, when they get everyone else to remove it I'll be glad to do the same."


But how do you know -- how can you tell fraud from fact if you don't know a law enforcement official who can investigate for you?


Sonny had some input on this, too. "Unless they give you names of people who will verify who they are [you won't know the truth]. Given that most of [the people] who they can or will give you are young guys, I doubt you'd be able to check them anyway."


A friend who is really connected but doesn't advertise it says you can usually tell the fakesters simply by the way they act online. "Real mobster's wives or children don't brag about it or talk about it openly on a social network.


"I am so sick of these idiots pretending to be mobsters or their children. I can pick them out right away."



Another truly connected source, who claims she has found five fakesters on Twitter/Facebook, provided me with this long, but revealing and quite comical, anecdote about a fakester who seemed to have run a huge scam, but it popped like a bubble.




He was using a Lucchese surname -- the family name is actually Luchese; the mob family is Lucchese -- I can't explain it, but that is a fact.


Anyway this guy seems to be gone now, his accounts, Tweets, etc. But my friend was on to him and even tried to warn all the ladies who seemed to be falling for his con. But let me allow her to tell it:


"He came on with that name and a picture of a huge bodybuilder without a shirt on. He followed the Mobwives & through them found me. As soon as I saw the name I knew! He was trying to look like a mob guy right off the bat. He also had his residence as Alpine NJ (the most expensive zip code).


"He bragged about all of his companies & all of his millions. He tweeted non stop! A busy multi millionaire executive tweeting to air all day? 1st clue! Second, rich people don't talk about how much money they have. He bragged about taking his Dad to Beverly Hills on his private jet with his "crew", to eat at the restaurant owned by a Bev Hills housewife. He tweeted about it all day, but not one picture. Not of the jet, the restaurant, Bev Hills, etc. Nothing!


"He had all of the woman kissing his ass all day long! I was shocked that these woman bought his bullshit. I tried warning two of them but they said he sounded legit. Omg, he sounded like an idiot! He made an acct for his 'Dad,' but I knew it was him too. I'm still trying to find these accts, you have to read them, you will die laughing.


"One night I was tweeting to air about him & he didn't realize and gave me instructions on how to kill my enemy mafia style, no blood. I told him I already knew that technique from my Mafia Handbook. Lmao! Then his father interrupts to tell me that Gino's a bad capo, it's three bullets to the head. I thanked him & told him I read that in my Hit Man For Dummies book already. Omg, I had so much fun making fun of this idiot.


"He then created another acct, it was for his 'business manager.' He tells [one girl he met on social media, this one a truly connected daughter] he's going to meet her at the Drunken Monkey on Friday night, and guess what -- on Fri he announces on twitter that he was just diagnosed with testicular cancer. What???? I died laughing... [All his online 'believers'] were tweeting to his Dad, reassuring him that Gino would make it.



"I was in shock, how dumb are people? Ok, now Gino is tweeting that it's the early stages & he has experts from all over the world being flown in. Gino would beat this!!! [The Drunken Monkey date-girl he met online really wanted to see] him in the hopsital, he tried to put her off, after 5 days, his business partner announced to twitter than Gino died. [People] were crying, sending condolences. I have to try one more time to find the accts... I can't believe the amount of people who bought it."
It takes all kinds, as they say. But then there are the bona fide mobsters turned informants who quite clearly proclaim what they have done on social media, as they are free from recrimination and probably looking for work:

  • Info


In any event, forming a relationship with a fakester can be downright dangerous, too, according to Scambusters.org, which describes fraudulent identity as one of the five most common scams on the Internet.

"It's easy to set up a profile on the big social networking sites. For criminal types, this means an opportunity to pass themselves off as someone else -- either real or non-existent.

"Their motives may just be to have some anonymous fun but they're more likely to be sinister, like establishing phony friendships that lead to face-to-face meetings with who-knows-what consequences, or to float invitations to adult sites.

"Sometimes, the scammers use the identities of genuine people, using information and photographs trawled from the Internet.

"The bottom line: Realize how easy it is to establish phony identities and don't blindly trust that someone is who they say they are. Be wary about accepting new friends you haven't checked out."

Comments

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  6. You all jumping to conclusions -- Scarpa doesn't name her so how do you know who he means>??>>

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    1. Something came over me when I wrote that, must apologize... All of a sudden I thought I was... I was... THE GODFATHER'S SIXTH SON! (or is it seven?)

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  7. It's a no brainer! Reading between the lines as I was a follower on her twitter acct and she unfollowed me after asking too many ??'s. All of what Mr. Scarpa said in his blog describes Littleitaly to the "T"! This is exactly what she does! Posts beautiful pics that she claims are her, she lures followers into her web of deceit and takes pleasure in dropping you like a bad habit if you question her! People who tell the truth don't get offended unless they're lying and can't think fast enough to respond! Real people connected to the Mob are descreet! Why get so upset when she is asked to prove she's the daughter of Alphonse D'Arco? She preys on people she knows she can manipulate, but when confronted with someone who is hip to her game, you become a problem for her.

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  10. I will neither confirm nor deny any identities, but frankly, I would like to hear about the phony Lucchese mobster -- can anyone comment on him, or other "fakesters" they have come across?

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  12. Finally someone who is speaking specifics... can you give us some color on Gino, what his game was, who he really was (if you know)... anything, really, to fill that part of the story out would really be helpful. And I'd work your comments into the story as "from an anonymous source." Thanks!

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  14. Gino claimed to be out of New Jersey, a millionaire who ran a business that didn't exist and was a body builder...personally...I think he faked his death and the prick is sick in the head!!

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