Born Tom Matthew Keller, Tom grew up in United States Federal Witness Protection Program under the name Tom Norris in Chicago. His mother once told him that his father, James Bennett, a police detective in the Los Santos Police Department and had died when he Tom was only two years old, while taking out a bunch of bad guys. Tom grew up wanting to be just like him until he found out the truth. His father is still alive, but is not a hero, but instead was corrupt cop. After finding out this information, Tom left WITSEC and took his mother's maiden name, Keller. Tom did not graduate from high school; he also did not attend college, although he has, (most likely) fictitiously acquired three MBAs and two doctorate degrees.
Tom is a world-class forger and conman, with a fondness for art, fine wine, Sy Devore suits, fedoras, and beautiful women and has 27 known aliases.
Tom came to Los Santos City in his early twenties after almost getting caught while allegedly pulling off the con of the century - The Great Ponzi scheme on his old boss Hayden. For about approximately six months, Tom worked for Hayden at Hayden Financial Management under the alias Mike Burke. Before Tom could complete the con, Hayden figured out Tom's true identity and his con and ran off with a billion dollars, leaving all of his employees - including Tom, jobless and broke. Hayden left only one dollar in the account Tom was after and a password that was an anagram for "Nice Try Tom". After this, Tom packed his bags and moved to Los Santos to look for a new start, or new opportunities some would say.
Tom refers to Vincent Hayden as "the man who made me who I am today." He follows Hayden's advice to "assault the commonplace every chance we get, from the clothes we wear to the art we collect, to the women in our lives."
