False titles of nobility

False titles of nobility or royal title scams are claimed titles of social rank that have been fabricated or assumed by an individual or family without recognition by the authorities of a country in which titles of nobility exist or once existed. They have received an increasing amount of press attention, as more schemes that purport to confer or sell such honorifics are promoted on the internet.^[1] Concern about the use of titles which lack legal standing or a basis in tradition has prompted increased vigilance and denunciation,^[1] although under English common law a person may choose to be known by any name they see fit as long as it is not done to "commit fraud or evade an obligation".^[2]