Hook-lines and warning signs - interesting questions. He certainly covered his tracks pretty well.

For credibility he presented himself as an ex-associate of law firms in Queenstown and Capetown, with a labour relations speciality.
However, he was in Jo'burg because of his need for chemotherapy and was a newb on the internet.
This little combination threw a lot of people off-track, including me.

I took the post rate and eagerness as a dying man on a mission.
I took the lack of mental coherence and legal acuity that displayed from time to time as the effect of the drugs (I've had people close to me on chemo - it isn't funny).
I took the copy-and-paste stuff as been away from home and not having his own work handy.
I took a lot of heart that he was not just an internet profile when he visited Ian.

When I tackled him on the use of other's material, they were supposed to be professional acquaintances who were only too happy that their work was out there doing good. However, he did agree that he really should be referencing the original writer in future as people might think the work as his own and he did so from that point on.

My decision to buy his HR toolkit was made when Anthony mentioned to me in private that he had a chat to Shaun about his legal credentials and he wasn't comfortable with the answers. It was the only way I could think of to test if the guy was for real.

While that ball was rolling, there was one discussion in particular that really got me twitchy - the whole "you must lay criminal charges in terms of the law" angle in the dismissal for theft thread was way off base with ridiculous references. It's also a good example of how folk can still fudge their way through, relying on the human tendency of the reasonably sympathetic to give the benefit of the doubt.

Ultimately he seemed to have a fair grasp of labour law issues, but was seriously weak in other legal aspects - which in hindsight probably was the earliest sign on show that he might not be who he purported to be. Even the most narrow legal specialist has a broader base of knowledge to draw on. By the time the religion came out (my view on business and religion, just for the record) the ball was rolling on my order test and I'd resolved to wait until it became clear he'd failed it.

Next time (hopefully there won't be one) I won't be so slow to report to the members that something appears amiss. Unfortunately the time of year didn't help - too many good reasons available as excuses for the delay.