Fake

The clue “Fake is BOGUS” is asking for a synonym of the word “fake” that can be expressed by the word “bogus“. Bogus means something that is counterfeit or false, which is similar to the meaning of fake. Therefore, the answer to this crossword question could be any word that is synonymous with the word fake, such as counterfeit, phony, fraudulent, or imitation, as they all share similar meanings with bogus.