To Falsely Impersonate
To Pose As, To Impersonate
transitive verb, godan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. Huh — another verb for trickery? Yup, but this one is for a specific kind of trickery: it means to falsely impersonate.
騙る refers to pretending to be something you're not, especially by claiming a false identity, status, or story. It's narrower than 騙す, because it specifically involves misrepresentation — like when a scammer tries to pose as someone they're not.
This word uses a different kun'yomi reading than the one you learned with the kanji and with 騙す. Here's a mnemonic to help you remember it:
The punishment for trying to falsely impersonate someone is to get launched out of a catapult (かた). If you want to pose as someone else and scam innocent people, you'd better prepare to get loaded into a catapult and jettisoned into oblivion.
Alternatively, you can think about how this word is like the evil version of 語る (to talk). You're talking, but this time you're using your words to fraudulently claim to be someone you're not.
人の名を騙る
to impersonate someone
私の名前を騙る
to impersonate me
予言者を騙る
to pose as a prophet
息子を騙る
to claim to be someone's son
有名人を騙るアカウントに注意してください。
Be careful of accounts impersonating celebrities.
彼女は記者を騙って情報を集めた。
She pretended to be a reporter and gathered information.
本人を騙る人物がSNSに現れた。
Someone falsely impersonating the individual surfaced on social media.
市の職員を騙る電話がかかってきた。
I received a call from someone posing as a city employee.