5 Catch Me If You Can

Frank Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, alias Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo, was one of the most hunted con men, fraudulent check writers, master forgers in history—and the world’s greatest impostor. Ersatz airline pilot, assistant state attorney, pediatrician, college professor, FBI agent, Abagnale was known by the police of twenty-six foreign countries and all fifty states as “The Skywayman.”

At sixteen, Abagnale dropped out of high school and left home to become an airline pilot—his life’s dream. By converting an ordinary ID into an airline ID, donning a uniform purchased by ruse from a New York manufacturer, and counterfeiting a pilot’s license, Abagnale found his way into Pan Am. With study and discreet inquiries, Abagnale picked up airline jargon and discovered that pilots could ride free anywhere in the world on any airline; and that hotels billed airlines direct and cashed checks issued by airline companies. During the five years Abagnale was to “fly” for Pan Am, he bilked the company for a small fortune in cash, traveled several hundred thousand miles at its expense, and nearly drove the public affairs people berserk.

Hiding out in a southern city, Abagnale learned that the state attorney general was seeking assistants. With a forged Harvard Law transcript and four months of study, Abagnale passed the bar on the third try and succeeded in being hired—at a salary of $12,800. For nine months he practiced law, but when a real Harvard lawyer appeared on the scene, Abagnale figured it was time to move on.

Abagnale fell into and out of other professions, until, unexpectedly, his identity was exposed and he was thrown into one of the most notorious prisons in France. Abagnale spent the next four years in various jails and, after a series of escapes, resigned himself to the fact that he had been caught for good.

“I was always aware of who I was in reality. My postures were always for purposes of monetary gain. But it would be wrong to say it was only for money. Money was just a part of it. I did have fun fooling people. It was exciting and at times glamorous, and I became so good at what I was doing that it just became natural for me to assume an identity other than my own. But it wasn’t all acting and I was always aware that if and when I was caught, I wasn’t going to win any Oscars. I was going to prison.”