Frank Abagnale facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Frank Abagnale
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Abagnale in 2008
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Frank William Abagnale Jr.
April 27, 1948 Bronxville, New York, U.S.
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| Citizenship | United States, France |
| Occupation | Secure document consultant |
| Criminal charge(s) | Auto larceny, theft, forgery, fraud |
| Criminal penalty |
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Frank William Abagnale Jr. (born April 27, 1948) is an American security consultant and author. He is known for committing various frauds, mainly targeting businesses, when he was young. Later, he became famous in the late 1970s by claiming he had pulled off many clever frauds. However, many of these stories have since been questioned.
In 1980, Abagnale helped write his autobiography, Catch Me If You Can. This book told a dramatic story about his claimed frauds. The book later inspired a movie of the same name in 2002, directed by Steven Spielberg. In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio played Frank Abagnale. Abagnale has also written four other books. Today, he runs a company called Abagnale and Associates, which helps businesses with security.
Abagnale claimed he worked as an assistant state attorney general in Louisiana. He also said he was a hospital doctor in Georgia. Another claim was that he pretended to be a Pan American World Airways pilot and flew over two million air miles for free. However, many of Abagnale's stories about his past have been questioned and found to be made up. In 2002, Abagnale admitted on his website that some facts were "overdramatized or exaggerated." More recently, journalists like Alan C. Logan and Javier Leiva have found evidence that suggests most of his famous stories were not true or were greatly exaggerated.
Contents
Frank's Early Life
Frank William Abagnale Jr. was born in the Bronx, New York City, on April 27, 1948. His mother was Algerian-American, and his father was Italian-American. He grew up in Bronxville, New York. His parents separated when he was 12 and divorced when he was 15. After the divorce, Frank moved with his father and new stepmother to Mount Vernon, New York.
Abagnale claimed his first victim was his own father. He said his father gave him a gasoline credit card and a truck. Frank then used the card to run up a bill of $3,400. He was only 15 at the time. In his autobiography, Abagnale said this crime led him to a reform school in Westchester County, New York.
Abagnale also claimed he attended an elite Catholic private school, Iona Preparatory School, until the tenth grade. However, his name and photos do not appear in the school's yearbooks from that time. Students who graduated then also do not remember him attending.
In December 1964, when he was 16, Frank joined the United States Navy. He was discharged after less than three months. Soon after, he was arrested for forgery.
In 1965, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Abagnale in Eureka, California. This was for car theft after he stole a Ford Mustang from a neighbor. He had paid for his trip from New York to California using blank checks stolen from a family business. Abagnale was also charged with pretending to be a US customs official, but this charge was later dropped.
Pretending to Be a Pilot
After being released to his father's care, 17-year-old Abagnale decided to pretend to be a pilot. He got a uniform from a company in Manhattan. However, he was arrested for stealing checks in Tuckahoe, New York just days later. Abagnale was sentenced to three years at Great Meadow Prison. He served two years and was released to his mother. But he broke his parole terms with another stolen car conviction in Boston, Massachusetts. This sent him back to Great Meadow for another year.
After his release on December 24, 1968, 20-year-old Abagnale pretended to be a TWA pilot. He moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There, he talked his way into the home of a music teacher. He had met the teacher's daughter, a Delta Air Lines stewardess, in New York.
In Baton Rouge, Abagnale also became friends with a local minister. He claimed he had a master's degree in social work from Ithaca College. He looked for work helping young people with disabilities. The minister introduced him to professors at Louisiana State University. They quickly realized he was not who he said he was. The minister became suspicious when Abagnale claimed to be a furloughed TWA pilot. He called the airline and found out Abagnale was a fraud. The minister told the Baton Rouge Police Department. Abagnale was arrested on February 14, 1969. He was found to have driven his rental car illegally out of state and had fake airline ID. The next day, detectives found he had stolen blank checks from his host family and a local business. He was then charged with theft and forgery. He was convicted on June 2, 1969, and sentenced to 12 years of probation. But he soon fled Louisiana for Europe.
Time in Europe
Two weeks after a warrant was issued in Louisiana, Abagnale was arrested in Montpellier, France, in September 1969. He had stolen a car and defrauded two families in Klippan, Sweden. He was sentenced to four months for theft in France, but only served three months in prison.
He was then sent to Sweden. There, he was found guilty of serious fraud by forgery. He served two months in a prison in Malmö. He was also banned from Sweden for eight years and was supposed to pay back his Swedish victims. Abagnale was sent back to the United States in June 1970 after his appeal failed.
Return to the United States
After returning to the United States, 22-year-old Abagnale dressed in a pilot's uniform. He traveled to college campuses, passing bad checks. He claimed he was there to hire flight attendants for Pan Am. At the University of Arizona, he said he was both a pilot and a doctor. A student at the time, Paul Holsen, said Abagnale gave physical exams to several female students who wanted to be flight crew members. None of these women ever joined Abagnale's made-up program.
On July 30, 1970, Abagnale cashed a fake Pan Am paycheck in Durham, North Carolina. This brought him to the attention of the FBI again. He was arrested in Cobb County, Georgia, three months later, on November 2, 1970. This was after he cashed ten fake Pan Am payroll checks in different towns. Abagnale escaped from the Cobb County jail. He was found four days later in New York City. In 1971, he was sentenced to ten years for forging checks worth about $1,448.60. He got an extra two years for escaping from the jail.
In 1974, Abagnale was released on parole. He had served about two years of his 12-year sentence at a federal prison in Petersburg, Virginia. Abagnale said he let the court choose where he would go for parole, and they decided on Houston, Texas.
After his release, Abagnale said he worked many jobs, like cook, grocer, and movie projectionist. He was fired from most of them when his criminal past was discovered. In 1974, he again pretended to be a pilot to get a job at Camp Manison, a summer camp in Texas. There, he was arrested for stealing cameras from co-workers. After only receiving a fine, he got a job at a Houston orphanage. He pretended to be a pilot with a master's degree. This job involved finding foster homes for children. His parole officer eventually found out and removed him from the orphanage. The officer moved Abagnale into living quarters above his own garage to "keep an eye on him." His next job was at Aetna, where he was fired and sued for check fraud.
According to Abagnale, he approached a bank in 1975 with an offer. He explained what he had done and offered to teach the bank's staff how fraudsters trick banks. He said if they didn't find his information helpful, they wouldn't owe him anything. Otherwise, they would owe him only $50, and he asked them to tell other banks about him. This started his new career as a speaker and security consultant. During this time, he made up parts of his resume, claiming he had worked with the Los Angeles Police Department and Scotland Yard.
In 1977, Abagnale gave public talks. He claimed that between the ages of 16 and 21, he was a pediatrician (children's doctor) in a Georgia hospital for one year. He also claimed to be an assistant state attorney general for one year, a sociology professor for two semesters, and a Pan American airlines pilot for two years. He also said he recruited female university students as Pan American flight attendants and traveled with them for three months in Europe. He even claimed he escaped the FBI by squeezing through a commercial airplane's toilet bowl while the plane was moving at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
He moved with his wife, Kelly, and their three sons to Tulsa, Oklahoma. They lived in the same house for 25 years. After their sons left for college, Kelly suggested they move. They decided to move to Charleston, South Carolina.
In 1976, he started Abagnale & Associates. This company advises businesses on how to make secure documents. In 2015, Abagnale became the AARP Fraud Watch Ambassador. In this role, he helps teach people how to protect themselves from identity theft and cybercrime. In 2018, he started co-hosting an AARP podcast called The Perfect Scam.
He has appeared in the media many times. This includes three times as a guest on The Tonight Show and an appearance on To Tell the Truth in 1977. He also had a regular spot on the British TV series The Secret Cabaret in the 1990s. The book about Abagnale, Catch Me If You Can, was made into a movie by Steven Spielberg in 2002. The real Abagnale made a small appearance in the film, playing a French police officer.
Are His Stories True?
During his many speeches and interviews, Abagnale has told many stories about his past crimes. He claimed he was wanted in 26 countries and worked a lot for the FBI. He also said he escaped from FBI custody several times. He claimed he cashed over 17,000 bad checks, totaling $2.5 million. He also said he worked as an assistant attorney general and a hospital doctor. In addition, he stated he started a fake flight attendant training program. He claimed he traveled with students throughout Europe for two months and flew over three million air miles as a pilot. Almost all of these claims have been proven false by journalists.
Abagnale has always said he was "arrested just once," in Montpellier, France. However, public records show he was arrested many times in New York, California, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas.
Despite public records showing Abagnale targeted individuals and small family businesses, he has often claimed publicly that he "never, ever ripped off any individuals." He told a reporter in 2002, "As long as I didn't hurt anyone, people never considered me a real criminal, my victims were big corporations."
His claim that he passed the Louisiana bar exam and worked for Attorney General Jack P. F. Gremillion was challenged by journalists in 1978. No record has been found that Abagnale was ever a lawyer in Louisiana. There is also no evidence he worked as an assistant attorney general. The Louisiana State Bar Association checked all who took the bar exam and found Abagnale never took it. The Attorney General's Office checked employee payments and found he never worked there.
Abagnale claimed that when he was 18, he worked for a year as a supervising pediatrician at Cobb General Hospital in Marietta, Georgia. He said he worked the midnight-to-8 am shift, supervising doctors and nurses. Abagnale claimed he would visit the university library to memorize medical journals. He said, "With my photographic memory, I could easily memorize anything." However, hospital leaders told a journalist that the hospital did not have a midnight-to-8 am shift or a regular overnight pediatrician position at that time. Records from the New York State Archives show that Abagnale was in Great Meadow Prison when he was 18.
Abagnale's claim that he pretended to be a doctor is partly true. At the University of Arizona in 1970, he said he was a pilot and a doctor. A student named Paul Holsen said Abagnale told him he was there to recruit and give physical exams to flight attendant candidates. University officials confirmed that Abagnale had interacted with 12 female students. Abagnale has admitted he performed exams on young women while pretending to be a doctor.
Abagnale has publicly claimed an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 140. He said, "I have an I.Q. of 140 and retain 90% of what I read." Despite claims of a photographic memory, when asked about details of his past roles, Abagnale said, "You get to a point in your life where you go, 'I don't remember what I did.'"
In 1982, Abagnale told the press, "I was and still am the only and youngest man to escape from that prison." However, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Abagnale was never held in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary.
In 1978, a reporter looked into Abagnale's claims after he spoke at an anti-crime event. Calls to banks, schools, and hospitals he mentioned found no evidence of his cons. Abagnale's response was, "Due to the embarrassment involved, I doubt if anyone would confirm the information." He later said he had changed the names.
In 2002, Abagnale addressed the truthfulness of his story on his company's website. He said his co-writer "overdramatized and exaggerated some of the story." However, Abagnale made many of these claims himself on national television shows like To Tell the Truth and The Tonight Show years before his autobiography was published.
Investigative journalist Javier Leiva found an old magazine story from 1978 where Abagnale told his life story. In that story, Abagnale made the same claims about being a lawyer, professor, and doctor. This shows that Abagnale himself invented and exaggerated his life story, not his co-author.
In 2002, at the Catch Me If You Can movie premiere, Abagnale admitted that the impersonations in the book were made up. He said, "I impersonated a doctor for a few days, I was a lawyer for a few days. In the book, it's like I am doing this for a year." Despite this, in public speeches, Abagnale would return to his claims of long-term impersonations. Abagnale's fees for speaking about his life story are reported to be between $20,000 and $30,000.
In 2006, a journalist challenged Abagnale's claim that he taught as a professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) for two semesters. Abagnale said he couldn't recall details and that his co-author exaggerated. The journalist showed him his own words from the movie book and film credits, where Abagnale, not his co-author, made the BYU professor claim. Abagnale then said he might have been a guest lecturer.
In 2020, author Alan C. Logan investigated Abagnale's story. He used old newspaper articles and public records. Logan's investigation found that Abagnale's account of his criminal past is mostly made up. Records show Abagnale was in Great Meadow Prison between the ages of 17 and 20. This is the same time he claimed to have committed his biggest scams. Logan's investigation also found many small crimes Abagnale never admitted to. Abagnale has said Logan's book is "not worthy of a comment."
Abagnale has told the press, "I was convicted on $2.5 million dollars' worth of bad checks." He also said he hired a law firm to pay back all the money. However, federal court records show Abagnale was convicted of forging 10 Pan American Airlines checks in five states, totaling less than $1,500. After his parole in 1974, he claimed he went to work for the FBI. But after this date, Abagnale was arrested for theft at a kids' camp in Friendswood, Texas, in August 1974.
In many interviews, Abagnale has claimed he earned millions from his patents. However, the United States Patent and Trademark Office website does not list Abagnale or his company as holding any patents.
Journalist Javier Leiva independently confirmed Logan's findings in 2022. Leiva also confirmed Abagnale was in prison between ages 17 and 20. He was also convicted for theft in Baton Rouge in June 1969. Leiva calculated that between 1965 and 1970, Abagnale was only free for a few months. His records show he was in prison most of that time.
His Relationship with the FBI
One of Abagnale's most debated claims is his relationship with the FBI. When he started telling his story in 1977, he did not claim to work for the FBI. However, he did use the names of FBI staff to make his story sound more real. In 1978, a journalist found that Abagnale and his publicist were giving out the names of FBI agents as references. One agent, Robert Russ Franck, said he only heard about Abagnale from people trying to check his story. He could not confirm if the claims were true. Another retired FBI agent, Eugene Stewart, said Abagnale was a low-level criminal.
After his 1980 autobiography was published, Abagnale began telling audiences he was on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He continued this claim into the 1990s. This claim was even used to market the Catch Me If You Can movie. When the film was released, and with clear evidence showing he was not on any most wanted list, Abagnale admitted on his website that he was never on the FBI's Most Wanted list.
In 2002, a journalist reported that no FBI task force was created to catch Abagnale. Despite his claims of living in an apartment complex and avoiding the FBI for a year as a pediatrician, newspaper reports of his arrest showed he had only been in the area for two days. Local FBI agents arrested him in a hotel. In 2022, a retired FBI Agent named Alan Brown confirmed that Abagnale was arrested in his hotel room without any problems. This is different from the dramatic escape shown in the movie.
In the years after the movie, Abagnale began claiming he was given a special parole from federal prison to work for the FBI. He said the secret work was given to him directly by Clarence M. Kelley, who was the FBI director. Abagnale claimed Kelley asked him to memorize military equipment and go undercover on bases. He also claimed Kelley sent him on missions as a scientist at a lab in New Mexico.
A retired FBI agent who worked on white-collar crime, Jerri Williams, spoke to journalist Javier Leiva about these claims.
After the movie was released, Abagnale started saying "we" when talking about the FBI. He also began claiming he worked directly for the FBI and celebrated anniversaries of his special parole. For example, in 2006, he said, "This year I am celebrating 31 years with the FBI." In 2014, he said, "this year I'm celebrating 38 years at the FBI where I work today." These dates do not match his parole release date.
Ira Winkler, a former intelligence analyst, asked Abagnale about his FBI position. Abagnale said he was a "special agent." Winkler asked if he meant a "full-fledged special agent," and Abagnale said yes.
In a 2018 interview, Abagnale claimed the FBI was concerned about him retiring. He said, "The FBI always ask me when am I going to retire, because they don't want me to." Abagnale has claimed his work with the FBI is unpaid. However, he has also publicly claimed his company made millions from U.S. government contracts. In 1991, Frank Abagnale and his wife filed for bankruptcy. In court, Abagnale claimed he had $1.6 million in debts.
Journalist Ira Perry found no evidence that Abagnale worked with the FBI. A retired FBI agent said Abagnale was caught trying to pass personal checks in 1978, years after he claimed to start working for the FBI. Abagnale claimed that Joseph Shea, an FBI agent, pursued him for five years and later became his friend and supervisor during parole. However, a newspaper reported that Abagnale and Shea only met again in the late 1980s, almost 20 years after Shea arrested him.
When the movie was released, an FBI spokesperson said Abagnale had given lectures at the academy "from time to time." But they denied that Abagnale had received awards from the agency, as claimed in the movie's marketing. The FBI has never officially confirmed Abagnale's claims about working for them or his special missions. Abagnale has claimed he was mentioned in an FBI book celebrating 100 years. However, his name does not appear in that book. In his public talks, Abagnale often acts like a spokesperson for the FBI. He has stated that the FBI accepts only "1 in 10,000 applications." However, FBI statistics show that about 11,500 applications are made each year for 900 positions, which is about one in 13 applicants.
In 2020, one of Abagnale's victims asked him why he talks about being an attorney general but doesn't mention his arrest in Baton Rouge. Abagnale replied, "That's because I work for the FBI." Abagnale told a newspaper that he teaches ethics at the FBI Academy. He said, "I teach ethics at the FBI academy, which is ironic, but years ago, someone at the bureau said, 'Who better than you to do this?'"
"Talks at Google" Video
In August 2022, Google turned off comments and added a warning to Abagnale's "Talks at Google" video. The warning says: "Google does not endorse or condone the content contained within this video, nor does it lay claim to the validity of the actions described herein." This means Google does not support or confirm the information in the video. According to journalist Javier Leiva, this change was made because of people in his audience.
Frank's Family Life
Abagnale and his wife Kelly live on Daniel Island, a community in Charleston, South Carolina. They have three sons: Scott, Chris, and Sean. Abagnale says that meeting his wife motivated him to change his life. He told an author that he met her while he was working undercover for the FBI, and she was a cashier at a grocery store.
Books About Frank Abagnale
- The Greatest Hoax on Earth: Catching Truth, While We Can, Alan C. Logan, 2020 ISBN: 978-1-7361-9741-7
- Catch Me If You Can, 1980. ISBN: 978-0-7679-0538-1
- The Art of the Steal, Broadway Books, 2001. ISBN: 978-0-7679-0683-8
- Real U Guide to Identity Theft, 2004. ISBN: 978-1-932999-01-3
- Stealing Your Life, Random House/Broadway Books, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-7679-2586-0
- Scam Me If You Can, 2019. ISBN: 978-0-5255-3896-7
See Also
- The Great Impostor, 1961 movie about Ferdinand Waldo Demara
- Elliot Castro, Scottish former fraudster
- William Douglas Street Jr., American con artist and impersonator
Images for kids
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Frank Abagnale's arrest photo from Friendswood, Texas, in 1974.
