Get your reading glasses out folks!!!
Something I study is criminology and psychology behind crimes. In this, I have observed a number of hoaxing characteristics and psychology behind them are very similar. Hoaxing is not necessarily a crime but the reason why it shares many common traits with certain criminal activities is that it relies heavily upon deception, concealment, misdirection and the air of trying to get away with something.
A great article came out a few years ago, “5 telltale signs of an online hoax”.
The article has some “real world” examples which I will provide if you wish in the future involving the Bigfoot Community. However, I would like to go into some detail on those points covered in the article.
1. Timelines don’t add up
“People perpetrating a hoax often have to construct a backstory in order to build credibility. This may involve creating a history for a company, person, or other entity. The farther back they go to establish credibility, the more likely they are to make mistakes.”
That is provided you are given a timeline. Many hoaxes lack a timeline which in of itself is dubious. I always say, “A picture, video and audio is only as good as the story behind it.
2. Names and people are problematic
“The names and people cited in hoaxes often have gaps in their history, and offer a very thin profile. This is because most of the time they simply don’t exist.”
The lack of any source material, lack of names and places aside from scene preservation should be suspect.
3. It appeals to a specific group or ideology or is too perfect
“Humans love to hear things that we already believe. It is immensely comforting for us to be told information that conforms to our existing beliefs and knowledge.”
As I have stated previously, there is always a target group. Whether it be particular organization or the community as a whole.
4. It has the trappings of authenticity
“A hoax has to find ways to convey a sense of credibility. Fake news articles often cite other media reports to back up their claims, but they will not link to these (non-existent) articles or they’ll simply inset links that go to the homepage of the website they mention. "
The term “con” is an abbreviated slang for confidence. Always remember that. A person’s charm, sincerity should be discounted in these situations because to sell a story, you have to be a salesman (or woman).
5. It falls apart when you focus on the details
“Click all of the links, Google all of the names, reverse image search all of the images, run a Whois on the domains mentioned. This is how you’ll find the loose thread that untangles the whole thing. Every piece of information offered is a detail to be examined. Something that reads as real will quickly fall apart in the face of a few clicks and searches.”
Con-artists rely on our natural human nature to be trusting and on laziness to count on you taking their word, rather than doing your homework.
Motive
Now I would like to move on to motive. For every audience targeted there is a motivation behind the hoax. As the internet progressed it is difficult sometimes to get to the real motivation.
Let’s look at some of the motivational factors for hoaxing (From the Squatch-D Hall of Shame):
The Psychologically Needy Hoaxer
One who hoaxes due to a recent psychological event in their life such as divorce, being widowed, or general loneliness and do it for company and or attention. They need to feel special or have special abilities to a particular class of people and have to fell superior within that class. These are the folks we see constantly on Facebook live espousing their special abilities to communicate, detect or otherwise be “in the know.” This type of hoaxing overtook the field over the Prankster or Jokester with the advent of Facebook live and YouTube. Often when facing critics they use the term “jealousy,” often because it questions their superiority.
-Subclass: The Unintentional Hoaxer
One who has a legitimate sighting and due to psychological effect of the sighting, every bump in the night becomes a Bigfoot. Often confused with misidentification, however differs due to frequency of misidentifications by the subject. The reason why this is a sub-class because it’s root cause is a psychological effect of a sighting on them.
The Prankster or Jokester
One who hoaxes for humor and enjoyment. There is a psychological need , however in some instances. While there is obvious parody, which should not be misconstrued as hoaxing, the person, as a prank, tries to hoax, is trying to belittle others in some manner either privately or publicly. The hoaxer at times wants to feel superiority over a particular group. It should be noted that some parody can be utilized for the same purpose. This motivation can be muddled at this point, due to monetization of YouTube Channels however. But the main motivation is usually the former.
The Profiteer
One who hoaxes in an attempt to garner financial gain either directly or indirectly. These are the folks which associate most with criminal traits. Narcissism, sociopathic tendencies among others can be at play. Remember a person who hoaxes for profit, is the same type of personality which others take with more defined “shortcuts” in life. They often espouse their position with overconfidence and power plays.
Hoaxing will always continue to plague the community. The more aware we are of how to research and understand some of the psychological factors and behaviors associated with hoaxing, the quicker we can put the garbage to the back of the line and focus on more genuine material being presented.
Be sure to catch Chris Bennett and I on Squatch-D TV Sundays 9PM Eastern, the “not clickbait” show where we present the truth…the good, the bad and the ugly!
See you Sunday!!!
Till next time,
Squatch-D
Squatchdetective's Blog 
Regarding motive you may need to consider compulsive liar personality disorder. These are people who spin yarns in which they are the hero or person of interest. Dr. Matthew Johnson is a perfect example of someone with this disorder. They are not delustional, but know they are telling lies, feeding off of leading people on with lies. This brief video explains some traits that could be an underlying psychological motive behind people like Dr. J. or Sasquatch Ontario.
Hi Daniel, compulsive lying may be part of the process involved, but the feelings of being a hero I find is not true in these situations more to the feelings of superiority. Hence there defensiveness and claims of jealousy. People with hero syndrome usually set up events to make them look like the hero consistently. I do believe that the two you mentioned are of 2 different motives. One being profit the other of control over others.
Steve, its hero OR person of interest where they are a central figure in the stories. In other words the stories revolve around them some way. Hero may or may not be part of some stories. Mike Paterson is a con man and I don’t know to what degree that disorder may be part of him, but I think Dr. Johnson fits the bill and he likely has other disorders associated with that personality disorder, like narcissism. The guy is constantly making up fantastic stories where he is the central figure; if he doesn’t have a compulsive liar disorder then no one does. People like him feed off of those they spread their tales to, and his controlling people is having an audience to gratify himself with. He feeds on that.
Patterson’s goal, I believe is profit-based, based on YouTube monetization and Patreon usage. Johnson is not hero syndrome I believe at all. I think its control of people as he has firmly established a “cult of Bigfoot.” Defintely both have all the traits I agree!