--- description: Here is what happened when a guy pretended to be the person who runs Humans of New York title: Watch a Guy Pretend to Be Humans of New York image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch a Guy Pretend to Be 'Humans of New York' by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 2, 2014 6:37 PM CUT by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 2, 2014 6:37 PM CUT The blog [Humans of New York](http://www.humansofnewyork.com/ "undefined") captures portraits of the people who populate New York City and tells a little of their story. Brandon Stanton, the brain behind the storytelling blog-turned-bestseller, was even one of TIME’s [30 Under 30](http://ideas.time.com/2013/12/16/30-under-30-meet-brandon-stanton-the-photographer-behind-humans-of-new-york/ "undefined") last year. Thanks to his hard work and poignant stories, apparently people will tell you anything if you say you are from the blog. So a prankster did just that. Watch how many people who may normally be inclined to brush off someone with a camera stop in their tracks upon hearing the magic words “Humans of New York.” The YouTube joker, [PrankDialz,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAfCES83uA4 "undefined") then took numerous photos of them while engaging the unwitting subjects in deep conversations about personal aspects of their lives. Watch, and trust no one. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3456278/guy-pretends-to-be-humans-of-new-york/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3456278/guy-pretends-to-be-humans-of-new-york/"},"headline":"Watch a Guy Pretend to Be 'Humans of New York'","datePublished":"2014-10-02T18:37:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:13:32.831Z","description":"You can't trust anyone anymore","url":"https://time.com/3456278/guy-pretends-to-be-humans-of-new-york/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Viral video","Prank"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3456278/guy-pretends-to-be-humans-of-new-york/","name":"Watch a Guy Pretend to Be 'Humans of New York'"}}]}] ```