June 2, 2016 3.35 pm This story is over 93 months old

Mystery ‘legal name fraud’ billboard has Lincolnites baffled

A giant billboard has suddenly appeared in Lincoln city centre claiming that it is ‘illegal to use a legal name’. The ambiguous advert, which reads ‘Legal name fraud, the truth, it’s illegal to use a legal name’, has been posted on the Oxford Street board in Lincoln – and residents are stumped. Despite an apparent intention to…

A giant billboard has suddenly appeared in Lincoln city centre claiming that it is ‘illegal to use a legal name’.

The ambiguous advert, which reads ‘Legal name fraud, the truth, it’s illegal to use a legal name’, has been posted on the Oxford Street board in Lincoln – and residents are stumped.

Despite an apparent intention to spread a warning-style message, no explanation is offered alongside the poster.

The posters are springing up all over the country with no real explanation.

The posters are springing up all over the country with no real explanation.

No information about the alleged ‘fraud’ or contact details have been given, but billboards similar to the one in Lincoln have gradually been sparking discussion across the country.

The instigator of the campaign has so far remained anonymous, however explanations of the seemingly extensive movement are building online.

One website, legalnamefraud.com claims to have all the answers (open to interpretation).

According to the site, the names people are registered with at birth are owned by the government.

This ‘legal name’ is supposedly owned by the Crown Corporation, “therefore using a legal name without their written permission is fraud”.

The site’s ‘about’ section states: “I/ME/Us/We have set up this website called LegalNameFraud.com and it currently has a psychology focus, being about how to help others move over from using the name to being free with no legal name… any ideas are welcome of course, we can discuss the process of change here and find out what works and what is just pure theory.”

The head scratching conspiracy for most remains a mystery…