Is this form of harmless, innocent pretexting legal so long as no fraud, or theft of personal information occur?

Hi my name is Ronald Teach.
I am doing research involving what could be best described as “reverse hate crimes”,
that is to say acts of violence , terrorism, sexual assault, and murder that may be
committed by minorities that are stereotypicaly thought to be victims.
I’m sure many cases like this exist, andmy current project is to study and write and
article about these cases.
Since I am a very private person, I intend to create a false dating website profile under a
female alias, befriend a man and ask him to take an sms for me (to fake the email services required sms verification).
Then using my new email (and spoofed phone) I intend to contact professionals (lawyers, doctors, researchers, counselors, and perhaps victims )as a female.
While admitting that the project is done independently and personally,
I shall pose as a retired lawyer for credibility.
Keep in mind that the only information I would request is that of their experiences and opinions, and perhaps references to other professionals or victims.

Identity theft is not even close to my proposed course, and no impersonation would take
place as the female lawyer is a fictitious alias.

Traffic Lawyer Richard Simon’s Answer

What you are doing is called catfishing or at least very close to it. I do not see anything illegal with what you are doing except for one thing, claiming you are a retired attorney. This may come close to impersonating an officer of the court and that is certainly illegal. I would walk a fine line one what all you do.