Its a fact, that the very name Navy SEALs opens a whole lot of doors for an individual. Frauds are not averse to proclaiming themselves to be Navy SEALs to cheat people or to get a job they dont truly deserve.
Its very important that you check the antecedents of a person claiming to be a Navy SEAL. However, sometimes even the most rigorous cross-examination does not tell you whether the person is the real deal or not. Given below are 10 ways to spot a fake US Navy SEAL.
Camouflage Clothing Covered with Medals and Tridents
Smell a rat when the person is dressed up in camouflage clothing replete with numerous ribbons, tridents, and patches. No Navy SEAL is going to walk around in this type of clothing when not on duty. Moreover, a Navy SEAL will always shy away from an in your face display of his SEAL credentials.
Always remember the fact that a trident has to be earned and a Navy SEAL does not have n number of tridents to his credit. The same is the case with those patches and symbols. Moreover, an individual like a Navy SEAL would never advertise the awards or the commendations he has received for his bravery in battle.
Doesnt Know His Class Number
There is absolutely no way in the world that US Navy SEALs are going to forget their class number. Moreover, to cover up the person might tell you that he did not have to go through the BUD/S training routine.
All Navy SEALs have to go through this routine, whatever their level of experience.
Team 6
Just about everybody wants to be in Team 6, the elite team within the elite. A fake Navy SEAL will always tell you that he was in Team 6.
Doesnt remember the Details
When asked for pointed details about places, names, dates, etc, a fake Navy SEAL will always tell you that such information is top secret and cannot be given out. This is quite true but there is quite a bit a real Navy SEAL will be able to tell you about his tour of duty or some such details.
Emotional Glorification
Fake Navy SEALs can weave a good emotional story glorifying their valor. Very often they claim to have been taken prisoner and have supposedly faced tremendous hardships. Moreover, another likely story could be the wiping out of his entire platoon and his having escaped through sheer determination and courage.
Medal Talk
Keeps talking about his medals and a few also claim to have been awarded the Medal of Honor. Remember, that US Navy SEALs dont like talking about their accomplishments and the medals that they have earned.
Cannot Remember the Names of His Superiors
Forget about the names of his platoon officer or commanding officer, a fake Navy SEAL cannot even remember the name of his swim buddy. A sure giveaway!
Advertising Killings
Fake Navy SEALs think that this is one way they can appear to be brave. Yes, stay away from the people who claim to have killed scores of people on their mission. As can be imagined a real Navy SEAL will never take pride in having killed people.
No Female SEAL
You would be surprised at the amount of people taken in by a woman who claims to be or have been a US Navy SEAL. Bear in mind that there never have been any female Navy SEALs.
Know a Real SEAL to spot the Fake SEAL
Know a true blue Navy SEAL so that you can spot the fake without batting an eyelid.
August 11th, 2009 - 4:56 pm
I have a family member involved with an individual in Ft. Myers, Fl. who claims to be a Seal. He is 66 and claims the reason no one can find him as a seal is because he is high security and that there are people out there that are still after them. He even came up with a document of his being a seal. The thing that bothers me is that he is almost stalking my cousin and theatens her. Alot of what I just read describes him. Is there anyway that we can find out for sure?
September 2nd, 2009 - 3:43 pm
A fellow I know says he’s a former Seal. weares a cammi jacket sporting a Combat Action Ribbon with a star denoting two actions. The ribbon is in the wrong place. says he was in Columbia in secret stuff. He braggs what he did and used a M60 machine gun. seals I knew never used a M60. He can’t remember his swim buddy’s name and when I asked to see his DD 214 he said it is was in storage and couldn’t find it. Sounds funny to me!
Steve crandall, real Navy brown Water Veteran…
September 22nd, 2009 - 6:01 am
[...] full version of this article, please visit “10 Ways to Spot a Fake US Navy SEAL“. Tags: excuse, female members, hero, job, medals, missions, pleasure, superiors, telling [...]
September 22nd, 2009 - 1:07 pm
Thanks for posting this. I have met so called Seals on a greyhound bus (a kid barely 19)
At Walmart (had a trident pinned to a golf hat)
And at Taco Bell. (funny, I never knew Seals weighed 300 lbs!!)
September 22nd, 2009 - 6:57 pm
There is more to this than just Navy Seals. I ve come across people claiming to be Special Forces, LRRPs etc. You ask them what unit they don’t remember, where did you serve in Vietnam can’t remember how convenient. I served in Vietnam with the US Army, I was stationed at Vinh Long Army Airfield, been to Soc Trang, Can Tho, Vung Tau etc…..I was with the 292nd Section under MACV gee I can remember all that the only thing I can’t remember is everybodys names never was good at that but my close friends I know their names Marty Jokerst, Calvin Perkins, Bruce and Gene etc…you can tell Vietnam fakes the same way you tell Navy Seal fakes, vague responses and everything was secret. Well the real vets know who we are………the fakes will never have the satisfaction of knowing what it was like to be in a real war.
September 23rd, 2009 - 6:35 am
Back in the Viet Nam era, some Navy Seals did carry the M-60 Machine Gun.
October 1st, 2009 - 9:23 pm
This poor guy at the supermarket where I used to work will swear up and down that his girlfriend was a Navy SEAL. Poor guy got suckered in, I think and refuses to believe otherwise.
October 2nd, 2009 - 9:19 am
An individual claims to be a Navy Seal and served in Vietnam. He stated that he was trained to fly a helicopter as an enlisted man. Each platoon had one member who could fly a helicopter. He also has carries a fake FAA pilots license and claims to fly corporate aircraft. He is not listed on the FAA database as a pilot. His FAA license looks real but the endorsements are wrong.
October 6th, 2009 - 3:40 pm
I started out in Vinh Long, we had a Seal Platoon and I only remember some Seals used a Stoner wepon. Very rapid firing wepnon about the size of a M-16 and had a 100 count drum of some sort. but carried a high maintenance to keep it in shape.
October 16th, 2009 - 7:57 pm
I arrested a slime ball for DWI and his slime ball lawyer said that his client was a SEAL during the trial.Many lies were said by this lawyer and his client about me which really upset me. The jury bought this load of lies. Is there a way I can go get either the low life lawyer or his scum bag client on any violations by this incident? Thank you.
October 16th, 2009 - 8:14 pm
You all need ot get that veriseal site back up. As an Army veteran of many years, and a paratrooper, I get fired up about people lying about what they were, or for wearing something they aren’t allowed. I just wish there was a national database that anyone could plug into to check people out….but…………..nothing happens to them anyways.
October 27th, 2009 - 2:20 pm
months ago I was helping my mom watch the front desk of the motel she is employed with and security came by and wanted me to meet a guy who said he was a Marine. Now real quick, I am a Marine, I was with 1st LAR on Camp Pendleton 1st MARDIV. (Nothing to do with SEALs but just want to share). I met this guy who sells cleaning products. He told me he was an EOD Marine. When I asked him what unit he was with he told me he was with the 225th infantry company. I let him lead me on for a short time about hitting IEDs and how his issued M16 was in his trailer and how it was full auto and liked to jam, (I’m also an ameture gunsmith) and how he would look at the bolt and and watch it do odd stuff that I know it can’t do. Then I laid into him. He began to cry when I told him he was full of sh*t, issued weapons can’t be taken home and the Marine Corps has no 225th infantry. When asked where he served he said he just got orders to a base in texas (couldn’t give me the name), then had the audacity to challenge me on my service! The security guy nearly had to handcuff me to keep from pummeling this kid, needless to say he has been subsequently banned from the motel. Again, not SEALs related but I thought I would share it amongst vets and supporters.
November 2nd, 2009 - 3:40 pm
I was in the Navy, I did have a high clearence and did, on two occasions interact with the SEALS (comms stuff). The ones I met were thin, smaller than I expected, in great shape and very humble. I am now a Police Officer in a large suburb of Boston. One of my supiriors claims to be a SEAL. Every part of my gut tells me he is not a SEAL. He has used his claim as a SEAL to move to several positions, such as; fire arms instructor and SWAT Team Leader. On one hand, I want to expose him as a fraud. On the other I don’t want to humiliate him. I also dont want him to get one of my fellow Officer killed just to save him a spanking. I know that I could get ahold of his DD-214 and prove it that way. But I would have to break into the HR office to get it. Not cool. Please advise.
November 7th, 2009 - 1:50 pm
I lived with a FAKE NAVY SEAL for 5.5 years – utterly gross and despicable…
It doesn’t feel good – trust me, please. I was born into an honest, patriotic family with sound morals and I have to tell you that – I can’t keep it in anymore – shame or no shame… people need to know and be aware that there are con-men out there who will masquerade as heroes to achieve personal gain on the backs (broken and/or dead – I am sorry for being blunt) – of others in order to receive special treatment – it’s ugly but it’s true.
I lived with my former boyfriend for 5 ½ years. Throughout that time, he maintained that he’d been a Navy SEAL (Team 6 of course) from 1983 – 1991. Initially, I didn’t question it – he was a ‘family friend’ (my father and his mother worked together when we were kids) – and family friends don’t lie to others – in my family’s book. That’s the way I was raised and that’s the way I will live my life from here on in.
In our 5.5 years together, his stories didn’t add up. At first – I didn’t know how to react or what to do – the whole situation was foreign and a complete enigma to me never having been really exposed to the military life. After a couple of years of strange behavior, I began to question things that didn’t add up and set out on a quest for ‘truth and knowledge’. None of which proved fruitful. Based on his behavior, I thought he suffered from PTSD during his service in the Navy. He drank severely, did drugs and woke up without any memory of his behavior the night before time after time after time – ‘scott free’…. What do you do with that?
I did what I thought to do – reach out to other Navy/SEAL partners, military people with websites and got NOTHING, ZIP, NADA… one big fat black hole regarding what was happening in my household. As a computer-savvy business woman, this was bizarre in my experience – totally bizarre. No nothing… now what? I kept searching.
I met up with a Navy Nam vet at the dog park one day who was very open to sharing his personal situation at my behest – maybe I’d glean something from his background that could/would explain my weirdo homelife in a manner that I could deal with… Not so.
It led to my ex sucking the Nam vet into his SEAL fantasy and believing that my ex had been a SEAL too. The Nam vet was in ongoing PTSD counseling and had great intentions of offering assistance with the strange occurrences within our household based on his own experiences. Hard to do when you’re dealing with a fake.
The fake had been hard at work suckering in any number of people with his story – I don’t even know how many folks he duped but the list is pretty large. He duped a 7 year old boy and his dad into his fantasy world. That is nothing short of shameful. He duped bar cronies into it as well – again shameful and gross – in my humble opinion. The whole thing is sick.
Military personnel die each day – sad but true. My dad raised me to respect and pay tribute those nameless and faceless individuals and never forget the price they paid for the sake of my own personal freedom. It is a legacy that I cannot disregard or ignore – EVER. And, the fact that I did so based on blind trust and respect haunts me – it always will. I cry watching the news each night. I hurt seeing the families suffer. And, I know that genuine heroes must be protected from charlatans by the rest of us as we discover the truth – however it comes to pass.
God bless America and our troops from harm’s way….
Holly Swanson
November 12th, 2009 - 4:48 pm
We had a fellow employee who put down ‘Navy SEAL’ on his resume.
I call this guy Dr. Fraud. Had a fake PhD he bought from a website, claimed to have run an oil pipeline across Louisiana, said he was the company President, but someone from his company told an investigator he was actually a clerk.
There was another employee who posted this fraud’s name on the Wall of Shame for being a fake SEAL. This other guy investigated and found out the fake SEAL had defrauded the company with numerous lies and an extremely falsified resume.
The fake SEAL even had Dr. in front of his name on his business card. His diploma came from a farmhouse in Pennsylvania where they charge $4,500 then you write three book reports and turn in a ‘dissertation.’ Someone showed me a copy of Dr. Fraud’s ‘dissertation’ it was 14 pages triple spaced!
Although I’d like to tell the entire world on 60 Minutes, I won’t tell you his name. He was actually only in the reserves, and for a short time. I went to night school while I was working and raising a family to earn my degree, a real degree. (Part of which was paid for by the GI Bill, thank you Uncle!) Still I can’t seem to bring myself to injure anyone except in self defense and he is not an immediate threat.
Just be careful. If you meet Dr. xxx xxx and he says he was a SEAL and he ran a pipeline across LA, and was VP of this company and President of that company you have probably met Dr. Fraud himself!
November 12th, 2009 - 5:04 pm
Nice info Nick. Thanks for sharing.
November 17th, 2009 - 7:00 pm
Yep, This is all about right.
BTW – I was NSWG group 2 team 4 ‘84-’86
Coronado CA
Class 265
Sr. Chief LaCarr
Chief Beckett
swim buddy – A. Gibbs Butler, AL
People that are fakes are a worthless.
November 22nd, 2009 - 10:56 am
I need to know if any of you know where I can report a FAKE, WANNABE “Ex” SEAL. i remember seeing one somewhere but cannot seem to locate it now. I have known this “man” (and I use that term lightly) who I think is a FAKE. I would like to find someway to try and verify his story. I am a Navy vet, NOT a SEAL, and grudge any fakes.
December 8th, 2009 - 7:08 pm
seals do use the m60 still
uncles the real deal
December 12th, 2009 - 11:00 am
“T Church
November 17th, 2009 – 7:00 pm
Yep, This is all about right.
BTW – I was NSWG group 2 team 4 ‘84-’86
Coronado CA
Class 265
Sr. Chief LaCarr
Chief Beckett
swim buddy – A. Gibbs Butler, AL
People that are fakes are a worthless.”
you are a fake, class 265 graduated in 2006
December 12th, 2009 - 9:47 pm
Great article. We have the same problem in Australia with “fake” SAS members. Bragging, talking about things they really would not be able to talk about if they had been involved, and other giveaways are easy to spot.
Sometimes all these people should really be able to say is something like “I’m afraid security requirements mean I am not at liberty to discuss my operational deployment”, instead of sitting you down and discussing all sorts of what sounds like secret information.
December 24th, 2009 - 1:33 pm
““T Church
November 17th, 2009 – 7:00 pm
Yep, This is all about right.
BTW – I was NSWG group 2 team 4 ‘84-’86
Coronado CA
Class 265
Sr. Chief LaCarr
Chief Beckett
swim buddy – A. Gibbs Butler, AL
People that are fakes are a worthless.”
you are a fake, class 265 graduated in 2006″
And Team 4 is on the East Coast.
January 3rd, 2010 - 8:33 pm
I know a frog who worked during the 70s and he was in DEVGRU (aka team 6)and did mainly oil rig crap and ive heard a lot from this guy real cool guy still has connections with friends still in special forces. Knowing this guy and the research ive poured into BUD/S and SEAL stories and training ( when im 18 im off to basic) it just utterly distgusts me that people fake bein a frogman.
January 12th, 2010 - 4:10 pm
I knew some Navy SEALS and some UDT guys during Desert Storm. I was stationed on a minesweeper over there. I have cammies and medals and a Combat Action Ribbon. I’ve fired an M60 and have been fired upon in anger.
I can’t imagine trying to tell someone I was one of those guys. An honorable breed unto themselves…
January 21st, 2010 - 8:01 pm
i have a son thats a seal and after reading some of these letters about fakes it made me think that i should not wear the cap i bought at his graduation nov.20th. 2009 . i wear it only as a very proud father.not to make someone think i was a navy seal. i was a marine discharged sept.1st 1972.my son is a very humble,laid back,&honest.he thinks of only about being the best he can be & making sure his team brothers are secure ,&takin care of by puting them first,even in front of himself. he started on one class and got rolled on his first week of third phase during buds.i never felt so sad the night he called me to tell me he had been rolled.worried only that he had let his class mates down.Thats what youll see from the real NAVY SEALS!!
February 1st, 2010 - 10:02 am
Here’s an idea: let’s gather all the FAKE SEALS and ship them out to the front lines. Their “store bought bravery” will no doubt serve them well.
I was married nearly 25 years and learned only during the painful divorce process that my children’s father had “reinvented himself” as a SEAL as a means to pickup women. He also used his fake miltary record to gain employment and according to some, still passes himself off as such. He even claimed to have done search and rescue diving after Hurricane Katrina and made up a sickening lie about a fictitous child using our daughter’s name; that story appeared in several newspapers and was again created as a means for him to attract attention, specifically that of young women.
If 60 Minutes were to do a story, this one would be a doozie!
February 3rd, 2010 - 1:33 am
Wow, some of these stories of how people act as in regarding to telling stories of “fake military career’s” really embarrasses me. I am sad to see how “men” operate to get women and attention. Embarrasses me just to be in the male gene-pool. <~~REAL USMC Vet.)