Before you call stolen valour a mental illness, consider this.

The vast majority of individuals reported to SVC over the past 13 years are grifters and con artists who lie, cheat and steal for their personal gain be it for admiration, power, influence, or charity.

Some posers have used their special status to participate in military ceremonies and parades, Remembrance Day services, charity galas and high profile sporting events as VIP guests.

Others have participated in fully funded commemorative pilgrimages and expeditions abroad. Some have used fake military narratives and tales of battlefield injuries to advance their employment opportunities and political aspirations.

The list of motives to impersonate a soldier includes; intimidation, theft, fraud, questionable charity schemes, embezzlement and dating scams which have cost their victims 10s of thousands dollars …

Fake Vietnam POW claimants are the lowest of the low and are notorious for using their “prisoner experience” as justification of their generally piss poor behaviour which routinely includes familial abuse (psychological / physical)

But, if you want to classify the actions of these individuals as a mental illness then you really should familiarize yourself with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM 5) prior to posting your internet diagnosis on our media platforms…

SVC

2026