Oh, the “Alibi of Photocopies” is marvelous! I kind of did something like that back in the 2000s. I would buy a book or magazine on a topic (say Macromedia Flash), and then feel confident enough to say I “knew” that technology to employers, and then desperately try to upload the thing into my head in a couple of days if I ever landed a job with it.

Not really dishonest, I had enough general background to easily comprehend and asimilate the knowledge, just not quite the time to learn everything.