The thing about compulsive liars is that they usually get caught out. This is exactly what happened with a rapper called Money Mars, who tried to dupe the world with a fake recording contract with Def Jam.

The Ithaca, NY-based musician posted pictures of a contract he'd clearly mocked up himself on Instagram, trying to perpetuate a self-made myth that the label had signed him for four albums and eight mixtapes. Total salary? $250,000 every two months.

Money Mars clearly doesn't spend much time in the actual industry, or he'd know that kind of deal is a relic from a bygone era – especially if, like Mars, you only have 273 followers on Soundcloud.   

His Instagram profile has been locked ever since his shoddily-constructed web of lies unravelled over the weekend. As former Def Jam employee David Amaya pointed out on Twitter, one of the biggest giveaways is that Def Jam and Island Def Jam are on the contract – the two groups haven't been connected since April.

Plus, why would Def Jam call themselves an "empire" twice in a two-page contract (and how many music contracts are two pages, anyway)?

It's one thing telling people in a bar that you've landed a shit hot record deal, but drawing up a contract and publishing it online is basically knocking on Trouble's door and begging it to come over. On the other hand, the rapper did refer to his Instagram as being totally "lit" with people talking about his sham, so maybe one good thing did temporarily come out of all this.

Watch "Dreaming Of Dubs" from Money Mars, the not-Def Jam signed rapper, below: