Phoney admission of poverty takes in a good man (8)

I believe the answer is:

impostor

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'phoney' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.

(Other definitions for impostor that I've seen before include "He fraudulently pretends to be someone else" , "phoney!" , "deceitful person" , "One assuming a false character" , "Sit or mop (anag.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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