Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia/George Colby

George Colby was a British privateer and profiteer of the French and Indian War (1754–1763). He successfully managed to disrupt the French fur trade by causing the French ships to run aground by emulating light houses in areas foreign to their destination. He and his crew would then pull up in small sized boats and capture the ships and their fur. Operating along the Great Lakes frontier under commission by King George III as leader of the Colby Pirates. George Colby reached privateer status, however once the war was over, this was revoked by his commissioner, King George III and he became somewhat of an unknown after that.