to purport to be 宣称
To have the possibly false appearance of being something or claiming to do something
The elderly gentleman purported to be the founder of an internet company, and everyone only smiled at him until they discovered it was true.
这位老先生宣称是某家互联网公司的创办人，所有人都对此一笑了之，但后来，他们发现这是真的。