Image caption The fake photographer photoshopped a British surfer into images of Middle East conflict 
 
 Eduardo Martins' story was too perfect even for the world of internet celebrity. 
 
 The 32-year-old from Brazil said he had been abused as a child and beat leukaemia as a young adult. 
 
 But he had turned his life around and now worked as a UN photographer whose experiences helped him connect with human suffering in some of the world's most dangerous conflict zones. 
 
 His work appeared in reputable international outlets such as Getty Images, The Wall Street Journal, Vice and BBC Brasil. 
 
 In between trips to Mosul in Iraq, the Syrian city of Raqqa under the control of so-called Islamic State (IS) and the Gaza Strip, Eduardo Martins enjoyed surfing. 
 
 He shared glimpses of his life with his almost 125,000 Instagram followers. 
 
 Until it all came crumbling down when a BBC Brasil investigation found out that Eduardo Martins was a completely fictitious character. 
 
 Inverted images 
 
 For years, someone using that name had been stealing pictures taken by professional photographers who had risked their lives in conflict to get them. 
 
 Eduardo Martins fooled journalists and picture editors by making slight alterations to the images, such as inverting them, just enough to elude software that scans pictures for plagiarism. 
 
 A number of them were stolen from US photographer, Daniel C. Britt. 
 
 Image copyright Daniel C Britt 
 
 Image copyright Daniel C Britt 
 
 Image copyright Daniel C Britt Image caption Daniel C. Britt's images were inverted and sold to newspapers such as the Wall St Journal, magazines such as Recount Magazine and agencies such as Zuma and Getty Images 
 
 As Eduardo Martins' list of clients grew and became more impressive, it became easier for him to distribute the next lot of photos. He further boosted his profile by giving interviews to websites and magazines. 
 
 "Once in Iraq shooting a conflict, I stopped shooting to help a boy who was hit by a molotov cocktail, dropped the camera and helped get him out of the conflict area," he told Recount Magazine in October 2016. 
 
 "In scenes like this, which are common in my work, I stop being a photographer and become a human being. I cannot be impartial in these moments." 
 
 Fabricated identity 
 
 He kept his cover going by stealing images of Max Hepworth-Povey, a British surfer, and photoshopping him into pictures of war zones. 
 
 Mr Hepworth-Povey remained completely unaware of the fraud until it was exposed. 
 
 "When a friend showed me the pictures, at first I thought it was a joke, someone making fun of me," he told BBC Brasil. 
 
 "But actually my pictures had been stolen. It is mad that a random guy has decided to use my image amidst so many options on the internet." 
 
 Image copyright Courtesy of Max Hepworth-Povey Image caption Max Hepworth-Povey was unaware his identity had been stolen 
 
 The 32-year old from Cornwall said some of the images stolen from him date back five years. 
 
 "I work very far from war zones, with surfing trips," said Mr Hepworth-Povey, who has been living and working in northern Spain for the past three months. 
 
 "I don't like the idea of creating an aura of glamour around a country in conflict." 
 
 Fraudster busted 
 
 Eduardo Martins' career came to an end after he contacted Natasha Ribeiro, a BBC Brasil contributor based in the Middle East. 
 
 She became suspicious because neither she nor any others among the small pool of Brazilian journalists working in the region had ever met an Eduardo Martins in person. 
 
 So BBC Brasil reporters started digging. 
 
 They got in touch with the UN, which confirmed he was not employed by them. 
 
 Organisations that the fraudster claimed to have visited around the world were also contacted and none of them recognised him. 
 
 Image copyright Courtesy of Max Hepworth-Povey Image caption Max Hepworth-Povey's surfing pictures were also used to build Eduardo martins' identity 
 
 Mr Hepworth-Povey told BBC Brasil that back in 2014 he had been contacted by someone identifying himself as "Bruno" who wanted to talk to him about some work related to surfing. 
 
 But when the pair tried to have an online meeting, "his video wasn't working and eventually I said I was no longer interested", Mr Hepworth-Povey recalls. 
 
 The surfer says that a week later, a fake profile of his appeared on Facebook, which led Mr Hepworth-Povey to close his Facebook account. "It was all very creepy," he said. 
 
 The timing coincides with the period that Eduardo Martins started sending pictures to publications around the world. 
 
 It could also explain why editors contacting Eduardo Martins via Skype would see a picture of the handsome surfer before the connection allegedly dropped and the conversation with the fake photographer moved to voice and text messages sent via messaging service WhatsApp. 
 
 Online romances 
 
 BBC Brasil has also been in contact with one of at least six women, all young and professionally successful, who say they had romantic online relationships with Eduardo Martins. 
 
 None of them has ever met him in person and they all have asked to remain unidentified. 
 
 Once it was clear Eduardo Martins was a fake, BBC Brasil took down a story it had published about him and issued an apology to its readers, adding that the case "will help reinforce our verification procedures". 
 
 Image caption BBC Brasil deleted its interview with the fake UN photographer 
 
 Even though Eduardo Martins' scheme has now been busted, the identity of the individual behind the fake persona is still a mystery. 
 
 Fernando Costa Netto, a photographer and the owner of Sao Paulo-based DOC Galeria, says he may have inadvertently warned the fraudster that people were starting to get suspicious. 
 
 "I was putting together an exhibition showcasing the work of Brazilian photographers in war zones and had been in touch with him," Mr Costa Netto told BBC Brasil. 
 
 That was in late August. 
 
 "Then he disappeared for more than a week. I thought he had been kidnapped by IS or something. So I contacted some of his colleagues in Iraq. When we started looking for him, he re-appeared and said he'd just had a connection problem." 
 
 'Hey bro. I'm in Australia' 
 
 Presumably growing wary of the mounting suspicion and questions being asked, Eduardo Martins sent Mr Costa Netto a last message before closing his social media profiles and deleting his WhatsApp account. 
 
 "Hey bro. I'm in Australia. I made the decision of spending a year travelling around the world in a van. I will cut off everything, including the internet, and I deleted my IG [Instagram]," he wrote. 
 
 "I want to be [left] in peace. We'll speak again when I'm back. Hugs." ||||| Please note: Although many outlets have removed their coverage of “Eduardo Martins”, we have kept the following piece up on our website to date, as originally published (with photography and links redacted, and the title revised as of September 10, 2017), to facilitate the content of outlets exposing “Eduardo Martins” as a fraud to readers across the world. This is no endorsement of his actions, but we hope it serves as a documentation of his betrayal, evidence of his false claims, and a reminder to be thorough as journalists, writers, editors, and content creators. 
 
 You’ll want to read this brief editorial explaining the falsehoods stated by “Eduardo Martins” in this piece before you proceed. 
 
 Eduardo Martins is a documentary photographer from Sao Paolo, Brazil and humanitarian at the UN Refugee Agency. You may have seen his work in Vice, Le Point, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde and The Telegraph. Captivated by the depth of his work, we asked him to share what his work conveys about Martins’ perspective and experiences in the field. 
 
 It seems like you’ve been privy to some pretty frightening situations. How do you balance your role as an objective observer/photojournalist and wanting to help the people you are photographing? 
 
 During my work, there are many moments in which I spend time beyond the camera and end up getting involved with the people I’m photographing. Once in Iraq shooting a conflict, I stopped shooting to help a boy who was hit by a molotov, dropped the camera and helped get him out of the conflict area. In scenes like this, which are common in my work, I stop being a photographer and become a human being. I can not be impartial in these moments. 
 
 There’s a strong sense of humanity in your photos. I think particularly of the photo in Gaza with the man in the damaged Audi and also of the barely-visible eyes of one of your female fighters. Do you talk to people before you take their photos or do you prefer to be candid with your photography? Why? 
 
 I always try to talk to people, to be able to shoot properly. Sometimes, in certain types of situations, I have to act immediately, so we can not have this kind of communication. But when I can talk and try to know the story of each one, it changes my perception of how I set the scene and shoot. 
 
 Which area out of all that you’ve photographed did you find most difficult to be in and why? 
 
 The most difficult and dangerous place that I’ve photographed was Syria, because it is a place that is constantly in this very serious civil war. It is very hard to work there; the risk of life is imminent. Once, in a conflict between the Free Syrian Army and the opposition forces of the Bashar government, I took a glancing shot. I believe, without a shadow of doubt, the most dangerous place to be right now is Syria. 
 
 What initially inspired you to take up photography? 
 
 I always liked to photograph, then I had a serious illness, so I was unable to work for years. When I was healed, I decided to invest in my humanitarian and photographer side and moved to Paris and started working in the NGO Children’s Safe Drinking Water. From that moment on, I started to travel to places with social problems where I started shooting this reality. I joined the humanitarian work with photography, which ended up working very well. 
 
 What is your favourite photo you’ve ever taken? Why is that? 
 
 It is difficult to highlight a favorite picture. I have several, but they are the ones that took the most out of me while shooting. Not only the final result, but what I went through to be able to transform the scene into a photograph that conveys something to the viewer. I like a lot of my work in the Gaza Strip, have a great identification with the Palestinian people, and because of that I do my best to do a good job. 
 
 What is your definition of what constitutes a good photo? 
 
 What makes a good photo to me is the power it has to touch the viewer, I believe it’s crucial to bring the feeling in photography, and I try to portray faithfully to the public what I see and feel by clicking a situation. 
 
 What are your thoughts on photoshop and editing programs that so many photographers currently use? Do you think that these programs contradict the purpose and mission of photojournalism? 
 
 I think that nowadays the photographer has many tools at his disposition to help in their work. I personally do not use any program like photoshop; I believe that a good real photographer does not need to edit the image, he does a good job even without these tools. I respect those who use the program, but I don’t see it as part of the development of my job. 
 
 What made you become involved in the UN Agency Refugee program and why? 
 
 At CSDW, we worked at the UN refugee camps most of the time. I worked a lot in the Middle East and met many people who were part of the UN, which turned out to be very positive to open doors and start working with the UN. This year I was invited to work as a humanitarian in the agency. It was a great honor and I immediately accepted their invitation. 
 
 What is your mission when you travel to a new place to photograph? What are you searching for or hoping to document when beginning new projects? 
 
 I will always photograph places with social problems; I always look for this type of subject. I want to show the public the reality of these places, telling the story through my work, something that can impact and bring a willingness to change to the next. My favorite subjects are definitely conflicts and social problems around the world, so when I have an assignment I always look for places facing these humanitarian issues. My favorite places are in the Middle East and Africa. 
 
 If you were to have a personal motto, what would you say it would be and why? 
 
 My motto is always where there is chaos there is also beauty, which is what I try to show in my work and in places that have such a difficult reality to be faced. I try to show the good side of each place, people, and situation. Basically, my motto is to awaken compassion within the viewer, touch the heart of each one deeply so that they are moved to make a difference in the places they live through charity and compassion to the next. 
 
 Which photographs(s) of yours has/have generated the most reaction from the public and/or the journalism community? 
 
 My work in Syria and Iraq have more prominence in the journalistic media, after all it is more photojournalistic than documentary. But the general public appreciates a lot of my work in Gaza because of the human side that I picture. Finally, I just hope all my work can touch every person in a way, whichever that is. 
 
 This written Q&A was edited. 
 
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– Once asked why he risked his life to photograph war-torn countries, Eduardo Martins expressed his desire to "show the public the reality of these places." The problem is the supposed Brazilian photojournalist didn't actually know the reality of places like Syria and Iraq because … he hadn't visited them. A BBC investigation reveals Martins' photos showing the devastation affecting Iraqi refugees, Syrian families, and those in the Gaza Strip—published in outlets like the Wall Street Journal and sold on Getty Images—were actually the work of other photojournalists, flipped horizontally to fool software used to detect plagiarism. Even selfies posted to Martins' since-deleted Instagram account were faked with a face stolen from the Facebook account of British surfer Max Hepworth-Povey. "It's just mad. It's like seeing an evil twin," Hepworth-Povey tells the Washington Post, which unravels Martins' touching backstory. (Eduardo Martins doesn't actually exist, though the imposter's real name is unknown.) Like his photos, Martins' claims that he spent his early adulthood battling leukemia, suffered the death of his father due to liver failure, and worked at the UN Refugee Agency turned out to be false. As apparently did this account he gave to Recount last October: While in Iraq, "I stopped shooting to help a boy who was hit by a Molotov … and helped get him out of the conflict area." A journalist who alerted Martins to surfacing doubts is the last known person to hear from him. According to the BBC, Martins said he was "traveling around the world in a van" and wanted to be left "in peace."