Impersonating a Rockefeller seems to have become something of a cottage industry.

First, there was Clark Rockefeller, the convicted kidnapper who's now got his own biopic. And now we have news of the even more wily Malcolm Rockefeller.

Alex Beam of the Boston Globe tells the colorful tale of how a former car salesman named Eric Price transformed himself from a confessed bank fraudster into a New England Brahmin who drove a Jaguar and developed a refined taste for rare books and antiques. (Mr. Price has disappeared so he couldn't be reached for comment).

What's most interesting about the tale is how Mr. Price used the new tools of Facebook and e-mail to create his persona. He used a Harvard student e-mail (m.rockefeller.md@harvard.edu) to pretend to be a Harvard pediatrician. Then he created Facebook interactions with 'Mitzi Rockefeller' and other regal-sounding but presumably fictitious friends and exchanged news and gossip about the Rockefeller family.

His act only came undone after he made the mistake of attending a dinner at the home of an actual Rockefeller. Before he was unmasked, he allegedly made away with bank statements from the family's home. He was indicted by police but has since vanished.

The joys of creating fake identities online is nothing new. Nor is impersonating a rich person. But the practice of using online tools to create a real-life identity as a rich guy is likely to become increasingly common as people's lives become more virtual.

Of course, many of today's Rockefellers aren't all that rich anymore, after multiple generations of spending and taxes. So rather than using the Rockefeller name, tomorrow's online faux riche might want to become a Gates or Buffett.