Impersonator

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• Legally: An entertainer impersonates a celebrity, generally for entertainment, and makes fun of their recent scandals or known behavior patterns. Entertainers who impersonate multiple celebrities as part of their act are typically called impressionists
  Impressionist (entertainment)
  
  An impressionist is a performer whose act consists of giving the "impression" of being someone else by imitating the other person's voice and mannerisms....
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• Illegally: As part of a criminal
  Crime
  
  Societies define Crime as the breach of one or more rules or laws for which some Government or force may ultimately prescribe a punishment.The word crime originates from the Latin crimen , from the Latin root cerno and Greek ????? = "I judge"....
   act such as identity theft
  Identity theft
  
  Identity theft is a crime used to refer to fraud that involves someone pretending to be someone else in order to steal money or get other benefits....
  . This is usually where the criminal is trying to assume the identity of another, in order to commit fraud
  Fraud
  
  In the broadest sense, a fraud is a deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction....
  , such as accessing confidential information, or to gain property not belonging to them. Also known as social engineering
  Social engineering (security)
  
  Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. While similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term typically applies to trickery or deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-f...
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• Political decoy
  Political decoy
  
  A political decoy is a person employed to impersonate a politician, in order to draw attention away from the real person or to take risks on their behalf....
  , used as a form of protection for political and military figures. This involves an impersonator who is employed (or forced) to perform during public appearances, to mislead observers. This is also legal.

See also

• Celebrity impersonator
• Impostor
  Impostor
  
  An impostor or imposter is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering, but just as often for purposes of espionage or law enforcement....
  
• Personation
  Personation
  
  Personation is a term used in politics for the specific kind of voter fraud where an individual votes in an election, whilst pretending to be a different elector....
  
• Wannabe
• False flag
  False flag
  
  False flag operations are covert operations conducted by governments, corporations, or other organizations, which are designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities....