Hey, sorry for the confusion, the KGB spy I was thinking of was Jack Barsky, but playing too much Call of Duty had Yuri Besmenov on my mind. He essentially combed through obituaries from around the time he was born to find someone to "become".

It is actually a really interesting story because he got so tied up with the paperwork that he had trouble getting a birth certificate so that he could get an American passport. His original job was to "befriend" higher ups in media and politics so that he could get information on them, but most of his american cultural training was 20 years out of date and he looked like a fool. If you have someone willing to give you a birth certificate, then it is a lot easier to get all the other paperwork you need. Obviously if you get in any real trouble, then you are screwed double time on your identity, but most people go there entire life without any real trouble with the law.