Five Most Famous (or Infamous) Pretexters

Early on used social engineering to hack his way into computer networks. He was caught, convicted and did his time, but now he is out on the lecture circuit and writing books at

A hacker or a social engineer pretexter? Probably both. This Boston-born hacker made the most waves by gaining entry into the New York Times and Microsoft systems. (PHOTO: Wikipedia)

Before computer aided pretexting, there was Waldo Demara. Rather than anonymous pretextings, he was an in-person pretexter and made a career out of pretending to be an expert in many professions, including a surgeon. Tony Curtis played him in The G

Political pretexting has a long and storied career. If you are a dictator and you are afraid the populace might voice their displeasure by tossing you off a cliff, then hire a double to take the dive. Rashid (I dont think anyone ever got his full name) h

The Land Shark was a regular on early Saturday Night Live skits which included pretexts of plumber, dolphin and—the most famous—candygram. (PHOTO: NBC/Broadway Video)