In Linux you can create a fake webcam by making use of the v4l2loopback kernel module.

To install,

sudo apt install v4l2loopback-dkms

If you already had an existing module, remove it so we can customize it.

sudo modprobe -r v4l2loopback

Then create the file /etc/modprobe.d/fakecam.conf and add the following line

options v4l2loopback devices=1 video_nr=20 card_label=fakecam exclusive_caps=1

The value of video_nr must be larger than the amount of cameras in your system. I wouldn’t have more than 10 webcams plugged into my system, so I set it to 20.

Then load back up the kernel module

sudo modprobe v4l2loopback

Now when you open up Chrome, Skype, etc, you should see a new device labeled “fakecam”.