Table of ContentsSynopsis......................................................................................................................................................1

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1

Biography....................................................................................................................................................1

Early Life....................................................................................................................................................2

Childhood....................................................................................................................................................2

First con.......................................................................................................................................................2

Early Crimes.................................................................................................................................................3

Bank fraud................................................................................................................................................3

Impersonations............................................................................................................................................4

Airline pilot............................................................................................................................................4

Teaching assistant..................................................................................................................................4

Doctor..................................................................................................................................................4

Attorney..................................................................................................................................................5

Mode of Passing..........................................................................................................................................5

Psychological Analysis.................................................................................................................................6

Life Realities...............................................................................................................................................8

Cultural Influence......................................................................................................................................11

Archetypal Analysis..................................................................................................................................11

Outrunning the Law...................................................................................................................................12

The Making of a Swindler..........................................................................................................................14

Preparing for Takeoff.................................................................................................................................16

Taking Flight..............................................................................................................................................18

Calling Dr. Williams....................................................................................................................................20

Practicing and Evading the Law.................................................................................................................21

Making the Grade......................................................................................................................................22

Catching Up and Coming Clean.................................................................................................................24

Capture and imprisonment.......................................................................................................................27

Alleged escapes.........................................................................................................................................27

Media appearances...................................................................................................................................28

Personal life...............................................................................................................................................28

Imprisonment and Later Life.....................................................................................................................29

Our Choice...............................................................................................................................................29

Frank Abagnale Quotes.............................................................................................................................30

References..............................................................................................................................................31

Skywayman: The Story of Frank W. Abagnale Jr....................................................................................31

Catch Me If You Can..............................................................................................................................31

Synopsis

Frank Abagnale became notorious for impersonating a pilot, a doctor, and a laywer while in his early 20s. He was arrested at 21 by the French police, and later hired by the FBI to teach them his fradulent tricks. He started his own consultating agency, educating corporations, financial institutions and government agencies.

Introduction

Frank William Abagnale, Jr born April 27, 1948. He is an American security consultant known for his history as a former confidence trickster, check forger, and impostor. He became one of the most famous impostors ever, claiming to have assumed no fewer than eight identities as an airline pilot, a doctor, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons agent, and a lawyer. He escaped from police custody twice (once from a taxiing airliner and once from a U.S. federal penitentiary), before he was 21 years old. He served less than five years in prison before starting to work for the federal government. He is currently a consultant and lecturer for the FBI academy and field offices. He also runs Abagnale & Associates, a financial fraud consultancy company.

Abagnale's life story provided the inspiration for the feature film Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo Dicaprio as Abagnale, a Broadway musical of the same name which opened in April 2011, and a ghostwritten autobiography also of the same name. Abagnale criminal charges were Fraud, forgery, swindling and faces the Criminal penalty of 12 months in French prison (about 6 months served) 6 months in Swedish prison 12 years in US prison (4 years served). Frank Abagnale became notorious for impersonating a pilot, a doctor, and a laywer. He was hired by the FBI to teach them his fradulent tricks.

Biography

Born on April 27, 1948; Frank W. Abagnale Jr. is one of the most famous con-artists well known in the United States and around the world. He is well recognized for his remarkable ability to create and utilize false identities and for his outstanding intellect to cash over $2.5 million in forged checks around 26 countries at an early age, 16 to 21 years old. During those years, he impersonated a pilot, a professor assistant at a university, a pediatrician, an Assistant District Attorney in Louisiana and an undercover Federal Agent. He wrote a book about his life named “Catch Me If You Can” when he was 26 years old from which Steven Spielberg directed a movie under the same name that was released in 2003. Frank Abagnale is now the former CEO of

Abagnale & Associates, a fraud consultancy firm and he also lectures and consults for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Early Life

Frank Abagnale Jr. was born on April 27, 1948, in Bronxville, New York. He was one of four children born to parents Frank Abagnale Sr. and Paulette Abagnale. The couple met in Algiers during World War II, while Frank Sr. was stationed in Oran. After the war, they moved to New York, where Frank started a stationery business on Madison Avenue.

Frank Jr. had a happy childhood, and was especially close to his father. When his mother decided unexpectedly to leave his father, however, the young Frank's life was turned upside-down. Not only were his siblings devastated, but so was his father, who was still very much in love with his wife. Frank Jr. decided to live with his father after the divorce, and he often tagged along on his dad's business dealings. It was during this time that Frank Jr. learned a lot about white collar businesses.

Childhood

Abagnale was one of four children and spent the first sixteen years of his life in Bronxville, New York. His French mother, Paulette, and father, Frank Abagnale, Sr., separated when he was twelve [7] and divorced when he was fourteen. His father was an affluent local who was very keen on politics and theater, and was a role model for Abagnale, Jr.

First con

His first victim was his father, who gave Abagnale a gasoline credit card and a truck to assist him in commuting to his part-time job. In order to get date money, Abagnale devised a scheme in which he used the gasoline card to "buy" tires, batteries, and other car-related items at gas stations and then asked the attendants to give him cash in return for the products. Ultimately, his father was liable for a bill of $3,400. Abagnale was only 15 at the time.

Early Crimes

As a teenager, Frank Abagnale got caught up in petty crimes, including shoplifting. He soon grew tired of this practice, though, and decided to move into more sophisticated forms of burglary. Specifically, Abagnale began using his father's gas credit card to make a tidy profit. Frank Jr. then convinced gas station attendants to give him a portion of his sale back in cash, and allowed them to pocket a portion of the proceeds. The scam fell apart, though, when Frank's father got the credit card bill, which topped several thousand dollars.

The incident caused havoc in the family; his father's business was struggling financially, and Frank's scheme set his father back even further. Tired of his son's delinquency, Frank Sr. sent his son to a private school for wayward boys. But school didn't stick with the young Abagnale, who left home at 16 to make his own living.

Abagnale left home with $200 in his bank account and no formal education. Using his knowledge of the stationery business, Frank altered his driver’s license to make himself 10 years older than he was, and exaggerated his education. This helped him get better-paying jobs, but he still barely made ends meet.

Using his checkbook, Frank decided to quit his job and write bad checks to support himself. Before long, Abagnale had written hundreds of bad checks and had overdrawn his account by thousands of dollars. Knowing that he would eventually be caught, he decided it was time to go into hiding.

Bank fraud

Abagnale's early confidence tricks included writing personal checks on his own overdrawn account. This, however, would work for only a limited time before the bank demanded payment, so he moved on to opening other accounts at different banks, eventually creating new identities to sustain this charade. Over time through experimentation, he developed different ways of defrauding banks, such as printing out his own almost-perfect copies of checks such as payroll checks, depositing them, and persuading banks to advance him cash on the basis of his account balances. Another trick he used was to print his account number on blank deposit slips and add them to the stack of real blank slips in the bank. This meant that the deposits written on those slips by bank customers entered his account rather than the accounts of the legitimate customers.[

In a speech, Abagnale described an occasion when he noticed the location where airlines and car rental businesses, such as United Airlines and Hertz, would drop off their daily collections of money in a zip-up bag and then deposit them into a drop box on the airport premises. Using a security guard disguise he bought at a local costume shop, he put a sign over the box saying "Out of Service, Place deposits with security guard on duty" and collected money that way. Later he disclosed how he could not believe this idea had actually worked, stating with some astonishment: "How can a drop box be out of service?”

Impersonations

Airline pilot

Later, Abagnale decided to impersonate pilots because he wanted to fly throughout the world for free. He acquired a uniform by calling Pan American World Airways (Pan Am), telling the company that he was a pilot working for them who had lost his uniform, and obtaining a new one with a fake employee ID. He then forged a Federal Aviation Administration pilot's license. Pan Am estimated that between the ages of 16 and 18, Abagnale flew over 1,000,000 miles (1,600,000 km) on over 250 flights and flew to 26 countries by deadheading. As a company pilot, he was also able to stay at hotels for free during this time. Everything from food to lodging was billed to the airline company.

Abagnale stated that he was often invited by actual pilots to take the controls of the plane in-flight. On one occasion, he was offered the courtesy of flying at 30,000 ft (9,100 m). He took the controls and enabled the autopilot, "very much aware that I had been handed custody of 140 lives, my own included ... because I couldn't fly a kite".

Teaching assistant

He claimed that he worked as a sociology teaching assistant at Brigham Young University for a semester, under the name Frank Adams. Brigham Young University, however, disputes this claim.

Doctor

For eleven months, Abagnale impersonated a chief resident pediatrician in a Georgia hospital under the alias Frank Williams. He chose this course after he was nearly arrested disembarking a flight in New Orleans. Afraid of possible capture, he retired temporarily to Georgia. When filling out a rental application he impulsively listed his occupation as "doctor," fearing that the owner might check with Pan Am if he wrote "pilot". After befriending a real doctor who lived in the same apartment complex, he agreed to act as a supervisor of resident interns as a favor until the local hospital could find someone else to take the job. The position was not difficult for Abagnale because supervisors did no real medical work. However, he was nearly exposed when an infant almost died from oxygen deprivation because he had no idea what a nurse meant when she said there was a "blue baby." He was able to fake his way through most of his duties by letting the interns handle the cases coming in during his late-night shift, setting broken bones and other mundane tasks. He left the hospital only after he realized he could put lives at risk by his inability to respond to life-and-death situations.

Attorney

While he was posing as Pan Am First Officer "Robert Black", Abagnale forged a Harvard University law transcript, passed the Louisiana Bar exam, and got a job at the Louisiana State Attorney General's office at the age of nineteen. He told a stewardess he had briefly dated that he was also a Harvard Law School student, and she introduced him to a lawyer friend. Abagnale was told the Bar needed more lawyers and was offered a chance to apply. After making a fake transcript from Harvard, he prepared himself for the compulsory exam. Despite failing twice, he claims to have passed the bar exam legitimately on the third try after eight weeks of study, because "Louisiana, at the time, allowed you to take the Bar over and over as many times as you needed. It was really a matter of eliminating what you got wrong."

In his biography, he described the premise of his legal job as a "gopher boy" who simply fetched coffee and books for his boss. However, a real Harvard graduate also worked for that attorney general, and he hounded Abagnale with questions about his tenure at Harvard. Naturally, Abagnale could not answer questions about a university he had never attended. Eight months later he resigned after learning the man was making inquiries into his background.

Mode of Passing

Frank Abagnale Jr. was able to impersonate a pilot at Pan Am Airlines, a professor assistant at Brigham Young University, a pediatrician at The Georgian Hospital, an Assistant District Attorney in Louisiana and an undercover Federal Agent demonstrating that he pursued a job mode of passing. This mode of passing happens when a person identifies himself as a professional that is not. In this case, Frank pursued multiple professions without proper knowledge neither education to do so; however, he always took care of the superficial, his image, his appearance so he can prove others that he was what he said he was. It was also due to his fear of being discovered and caught that he began to impersonate different professions.

In addition, since he manufactured and cashed fraudulent checks, he is also considered to pursue a criminal mode of passing. As a matter of fact, he committed a variety of frauds around 26 countries; "I stole every nickel and blew it on fine threads, luxurious lodgings, fantastic foxes, and other sensual goodies” he wrote (Abagnale and Redding). He is also well known as being an escape artist since he escaped various times from FBI agents. Both modes of passing are survival and comfort based because Frank ran away from home at age 16, he needed money, food and shelter; “it was difficult to make ends meet” he said, so he forged his driver’s license in order to appear older and get a better wage –age passing. He realized that he was very confident and people perceived him as a credible person; therefore, he started writing checks with no funds. Later on, it was his drive for comfort that prompt him to cash as many checks as he could impersonating a Pan Am Airlines pilot (F. W. Abagnale, Frank Abagnale - New Life).

Thinking about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, I will say that his need of survival and comfort led him to act towards his criminal thoughts of getting money the easy way by ripping off several banks and different companies while his need for safety led him to pose as a professional and perform roles and responsibilities that he had not knowledge about. In addition, his need of belonging plays also an important part in his story since he ran away from home because his parents got a divorced; therefore, he was looking forward to fit somewhere, to be loved, to be acknowledged and respected which led him to impersonate important professions in the 60’s.

Psychological Analysis

First of all, it is valid to mention that, Frank Abagnale Jr. had an IQ of 140 when he passed; it was almost as having photographic memory which can identify him as an intellectual person. According to Freudian Psychology, Frank Abagnale followed The Pleasure Principle because his behaviour was motivated by the desire to feel pleasure and in his case, it was women. In fact, he wrote that women were his passion, that he “couldn't get enough of them.” He will say “Don Juan had only a mild case of the hoots compared to me. I was obsessed with foxy women.” In addition, when his first scam was discovered by his father, Frank blamed it on the girls; he wrote: "They do funny things to me. I can't explain it" (Abagnale and Redding). His libido pushed him to want more, every time more. Additionally to his libido and biological urges seeking immediate gratification, his impulsive and selfish behaviour represents his ID in the Freudian Structural Model.

Abagnale wrote: “A man’s alter ego is nothing more than his favourite image of himself” which reflects the dominant part of the Freudian Structural Model. During his age of passing, Frank used his logical and rational self to be aware of danger by being ahead of the FBI. He planned every single move; he observed carefully and learned from each experience. He was able to copy behaviour through observation. Moreover, it was due to his individual’s self image that he projected to the world (Ego) that he passed in various jobs. He also wrote: “I was a swindler and poseur of astonishing ability. I sometimes astonished myself with some of my impersonations and shenanigans, but I never at any time deluded myself. I was always aware that I was Frank Abagnale, Jr., that I was a check swindler and a faker, and if and when I was caught I wasn't going to win any Oscars. I was going to jail” which puts in evidence Frank’s consciousness of the real world (Abagnale and Redding).

He was able to use his rationalization and intellectualization as an ego defence mechanism to protect himself (Abagnale and Redding). On the other hand, Dr. Erikson’s Identity theory proposes an analysis to Abagnale’s ego identity, personality identity and socio/cultural identity. It was said that Frank’s ego was high. His self portrait and image was a primary focus during his

years of passing. His identity was whatever he wanted it to be as long as he was able to find proper clothing and forge transcripts. As for his personality identity, it was difficult to determine; however, what made him different during those years was his remarkable ability to create and utilize false identity, his capability to manufacture falsified checks and his facility and effort to impress people and to appear as a competent person in the occupations. In regards of the socio/cultural identity, Abagnale played many social roles during his passing years.

His first roles were son, brother, student, and friend. According to Erikson’s impact of external factors on personality development, there are 8 stages a human being goes through in life. Researching about Abagnale’s life, there was not much information on his infant, toddler and preschooler stages; however, he mentions in his book Catch Me If You Can that he was very close to his dad, meaning that his dad was of great influence on his personality. As a school-age child, he was able to learn, create and accomplish new skills and knowledge; as said before, he had an IQ of 140. He shared this stage with some “loose-end kids from his neighbourhood guys with a screwed-up family situation” which led him to act like a juvenile delinquent.

As an adolescent, Abagnale didn’t know his identity. He was entering a stage in which there was role confusion. In effect, because he ran away from home, the lack of a role model also affected his personality. At this stage of life, he depended on experiences and discoveries to build an identity. Since he discovered it was so easy to impersonate someone he was not, and it was also easy to gain money by forgery at this early stage of life, his identity was diffuse. In fact, he wrote that once a girl asked him who he was and he said “Anyone I want to be” (Abagnale and Redding). When he turned to be a young adult, he needed love. In an interview with Norman Swan, Frank related how he fell in love with a stewardess, how he told her about the real him and how she turned the police on him. Frank wasn’t able to trust anybody because he feared to be caught. Now, his whole life changed; he is a middle-aged adult with a family, a career and a successful company. He has control over his life and stability. He reached generativety by lecturing, helping the FBI and other organizations about fraud.

After all, this report is not just about Frank’s identity but personality as well, reason why the study of Dr. Lewis Goldberg, Dr. Robert McCrae and Dr. Paul Costa has great value to mention. The Big Five Personality Traits or Five Factor Model relates to Frank Abagnale’s life. During his early years as an impostor he ranked high in openness because he was intellectually curious and willing to try new things, he was very imaginative and insightful. He also ranked high in extraversion because he had a tendency to seek out the company of others, he had a strong engagement with the external world ad he was an action oriented individual. As he grew up, his levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness increased with time. Now, he ranks high in agreeableness because he is more cooperative as he lectures around the world about how to avoid fraud. He also ranks high in conscientiousness because he acts dutifully and aims to a more positive direction towards the wellbeing of his family.

Life Realities

Assessing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to better understand Frank Abagnale’s life realities, it is amazing how he is now close to the self actualization stage yet the journey he went through is astonishing as well. It is also important to mention key milestones of his life that led him to pass. To start with his childhood, he was a very creative kid always “looking for simple ways of doing stuff” (Bell). At age 12, his mother left his dad and because he had a very close relationship with his father, he started his criminal career as a mean to get attention. He got mixed up with a gang of juvenile delinquents who used to shoplift and perform other types of criminal activities at that age. He wrote: “What bothered me most was their lack of style. I learned early that class is universally admired. Almost any fault, sin or crime is considered more leniently if there's a touch of class involved”.

His dad exposed him to political, social and business environments that teenager did not know about. While being with his father, his life “was a whole different ball game.” He wrote: “I spent a lot of time in some of New York's finest saloons. Businessmen, I learned, not only enjoy three-martini lunches, but they belt out a lot of boilermaker brunches and whack out scores of scotch and soda dinners” (Abagnale and Redding). Spending time with his dad and observing the adulthood life gave him a clue to how to behave in front of others in order to pass as an adult. He soon understood that appearance was a key player in his life.

His libido prompted him to spend more of what he had. By the time he was 14, his dad gave him a Mobil gas card which he used at his convenience making deals with the gas station stores in order to get cash to spend on his women. Even when his father discovered how much he owed, he “continued to work the credit-card con and spend the loot on lovely women... An inflamed sex drive has no conscience” (Abagnale and Redding).

Frank’s father had a business which went bankrupt and Frank felt guilt since his dad had to pay for Frank’s debt. By then, the relationship with his dad was very strong and when he knew about his parents’ divorce, he was hurt and felt he was the product of a broken home. He always wanted to reunite his parents. It was in that moment that he ran away and never looked back.

He left to go to New York City carrying a check book with $200 in his bank account. He tried to get jobs with a decent pay but since he was 16 years old and didn’t have a high school diploma, it was difficult for him to earn a decent living. His struggle and physiological needs drove him to falsify his driver’s license to pass as an older man. Then, he exaggerated about his education which led him to an increase in wages. He soon realized that it wasn’t enough to have “bare minimum comfort” (Bell) reason why he quit his job and he dedicated his time to earn a living as a con artist. He started his quest for safety in terms of resources.

From check swindler he became an impostor. He needed safety in terms of a secure environment, resources and employment which led him to pose as a pilot of Pan Am Airlines. He forged payroll checks of this airline and cashed them in different airlines and hotels. The key to his success was his personality, keen observation and intense research. He will spend a great amount of time analyzing his possibilities and his next moves. Research led him to realize that the more attention he put on details, the more credible the transactions were. He also realized that having connections with real professionals put him ahead of the FBI and gave him more credibility.

“He knew that his lifestyle would not last forever and that it was only a matter of time before the authorities caught up with him” (Bell). It was the fear to be caught that led him to impersonate a doctor in another state under a different name. During his passing years he was known as Frank Williams, Frank Adams, Robert Monjo, Robert Conrad and Frank Conners. As a pediatrician, he will joke around when he didn’t know something and he will allocate more responsibilities to the residents. Humour is considered to be an ego defence mechanism and in this case “humour covered Abagnale’s ignorance” (Bell). As a doctor he felt lack of confidence. Eventually, when he realized that he put the life of kid in danger due to his lack of knowledge, he resigned.

Frank travelled to Louisiana. It was due to his need for esteem that he counterfeited transcripts from Harvard University in order to pass as a lawyer. In fact, his need for achievement was fulfilled when he legally passed the bar and received a license to practice law. A lawyer from Harvard University was curious to know more about Frank what made him feel that he was threatened. It was his false sense of security that led him to pose as a pilot again and travel for free.

It is important to mention that he never performed as any of the occupations mentioned. For example, as a pilot he never flew an airplane instead, he was always in the jump seat. As a doctor he never performed any surgery instead, he leveraged responsibility on the residents. As a lawyer, he never had a case; instead he was happy making copies and delivering coffee to others. As a professor at Brigham Young University he never taught, instead he was an assistant. In fact, his effort to appear as a competent person in the occupations was remarkable.

After, he went back to California. “Money played an important role in the pursuit of his interests,” (Bell) however while he was cashing counterfeited expense checks that he manufactured himself, he felt lonely. His need for love and intimacy drove him to meet a stewardess and to tell her everything about the real Frank Abagnale Jr. He wrote: “the minute I told the truth, they turned on me” (Abagnale and Redding) which expresses the strong fear he had to be caught, it also reveals the pressure he felt towards not telling the truth ever which led him to keep passing.

Frank went to France, where his mother was born; he met another stewardess whose father ran a print shop. He found the perfect opportunity to make more money, therefore he “requested an order of 10,000 Pan Am payroll checks” (Bell) to the stewardess father. Once again the need to

be secure with money played an important role in his life. It is important to point that women were a key element in Frank’s life experience since they were often insiders to the profession he attempted to fake. Subsequently he got caught, went to jail but escaped. In the same airport that he escaped he rented a security guard uniform and forged a night-deposit box. It is important to mention that Frank will always use a uniform as a way of camouflage, by doing so he was able to misguide others.

Being a man with growing needs and insatiable appetite for women and adventure, Abagnale travelled and changed of state. Impersonating a pilot of Pan Am, he went to a university and offered the faculty the opportunity to get a job for female students. It was a contest in which he interviewed many contestants that wanted to work for Pan Am. “With every new plan, he perfected his techniques in con artistry, forgery and impersonation” (Bell). He needed to travel with an aircrew to distract the police and to avoid any suspicion. He ended up cashing more checks and making more money that he could imagine.

When he was 20 years old he went back to France where he posed as a successful Hollywood screenplay writer and author. Back then, he got tired of running, he wanted to live a normal life; in fact he said in an interview: “It is not a glamorous life; it’s a very lonely life because everyone you meet believes you to be somebody you are not. You really can’t seriously have a relationship with anyone” (F. W. Abagnale, Frank Abagnale - New Life). Also he wrote: “It wasn't altogether a relaxing life. I didn't exactly keep my finger on the panic button, but I put a lot of mileage on my running shoes. I made a lot of exits through side doors, down fire escapes or over rooftops” (Abagnale and Redding). He got arrested and served 6 months in the prison Perpignan under very critical conditions and awful standards. He was also incarcerated in Italy and Sweden. He once said that “one’s negative behaviour represents one’s compensation of the unhappy domestic life.” (Bell)

He was transferred to United States and at the age of 26 years old he got granted early parole. It was difficult for him to get a job as an ex convict because his employers fired him as soon as they learned about the truth. At this stage he was having difficulty with his need for respect. With the FBI offering him a second chance by hiring him as a helper to discover frauds, he was able to construct another picture of himself. Later on, he began to lecture for free and his knowledge became of great demand. His knowledge and expertise granted him a second chance in society and now he is perceived as a respectable person.

Cultural Influence

Frank Abagnale Jr. has influenced a lot of people. He is not just recognized for what he did in the past but for creating a better system to catch fraudsters and to avoid identity theft. Besides his

autobiography, he has published three more books in which he refers to his experiences to prevent people about scams.

In addition, his great efforts to make amends for his past wrongs located him in a better position in society since he discovered a way to transfer his talents in a more positive direction. In fact, his lectures have motivated people. I was reading a blog of a woman that attended one of Frank’s lectures and she was describing how powerful she felt Frank’s words about his real experience and how he was able to change that motivated her to do better. At the end of her post she wrote: “it was an amazing story of hope and the realization of catching what is important in life it is not money, it is not fame, it is not a jet-setting lifestyle, it is God, family and friends” (Kelly Justice: From the Heart).

Archetypal Analysis

Dr. Carl Jung proposed that we all have an ego, a personal unconscious and a collective unconscious. Frank’s ego is reflected in his normal daily activities. His personal unconscious is reflected on his own individual experiences, thoughts and perceptions and his collective unconscious is reflected on his non personal experiences, his deepest and inaccessible side. His ego and personal unconscious were described on the psychoanalysis and life realities sections; however, his collective unconscious also forms part of Frank’s personality and identity.

Jung described that there are archetypes which are mental images of a role, prototypes of a person, and a model of behaviour. Archetypes are “inherited tendency to respond to universal human situations in particular ways” (Kristal). In Frank’s case, there are many archetypal events such as the separation of his parents, the need of survival, the fear of being caught by the police, the loneliness, and the betrayal of the stewardess, the time spent on jail and the offer of a second chance by the FBI. This last one is considered to be a key milestone since it led him to change his life and become a better man. All the mentioned archetypal events are archetypal of transformation because those events were images in Frank’s mind, pieces of his life that were connected to him by emotions and that drove him to strive to attain his goals which back then was money, women and to reunite his family.

Considering Dr. Jung’s theory, during Abagnale years of passing, his archetype was The Persona because he posed to be someone he was not and the persona is the way how people present to the world, it is a mask. He masqueraded to be a pilot, a professor, a lawyer, a doctor, a guard, and a screenplay writer. He was Frank Williams, Frank Adams, Robert Monjo, Robert Conrad, and Frank Conners during those five years. In addition, every time that he changed to be someone else, he also changed his model of behaviour. He was a queen observer and it was through observation that he copied behaviour. As a fraudster he also played The Trickster as an

archetypal image because he was smart, curious, and he used his abilities to survive the challenges of the world by using trickery in the form of con art.

Frank also had The Self archetype which is the regulating center and facilitator of individualization. It is because of the self that Frank is who he is now. In fact, it is The Mentor the archetypal image that Abagnale has now. He represents it when he lectures and teaches people how to avoid identity theft and scams. He shows it when he shares his knowledge with others through his consultation firm.

Outrunning the Law

Frank was luckier than his fellow inmates that he left behind within the walls of the infamous French prison Perpignan. He had just finished a six-month stint in the jail, where he almost died from malnutrition and pneumonia. It was no wonder, living and sleeping in his own fecal matter and urine on a stone floor for the duration of his sentence. Those who remained in the prison continued to live a subhuman existence.

Frank was transferred from Perpignan to a low security prison in Sweden. Within the Swedish prison, the treatment of inmates and the conditions were considerably better -- far cry from the filth hole he left behind. Frank had been sentenced to six months, which sped by quickly in the near luxurious conditions. However, near the end of his sentence his passport was revoked and he awaited deportation from Sweden back to the United States.

Although he feared a harsher sentence in America than that which he had in Sweden, it would be nothing compared to the prisons of the twelve other countries that wanted to extradite him for passing bad checks. Many of the foreign prisons were similar to the nightmarish penitentiary in France. But regardless of where he served his time, just the mere thought of being incarcerated for a large portion of his young adulthood spooked Frank. He decided to make a daring escape.

During his deportation from Sweden, Frank was escorted onto a plane bound for New Yorkwhere officers awaited to take him into custody. Enroute to the United States, Frank plotted a way to escape from the plane. During the last ten minutes before the plane landed in America, Frank made his way to the plane's toilet. He had a working knowledge of the structural components of the aircraft and knew that beneath the toilet was a hatch leading to the underbelly of the plane. 

According to Frank W. Abagnale's autobiography, Catch Me if You Can, he locked himself in the plane's bathroom and immediately began to unscrew the compartment surrounding the toilet. Once it was loose, Frank lifted the apparatus, revealing an open compartment. He then climbed in and crawled beneath the plane, waiting for it to touch the ground during its descent towards the landing strip. In the darkness of the night, he jumped from the plane as it approached the ground and ran from the landing strip. He was free but only temporarily.

Once in New York, Frank made his way to an old acquaintance's house where he kept a stash of clothes and money. He stayed there only briefly before he left for Montreal, where a safe deposit box with thousands of dollars awaited him. Frank intended to use the money to buy a non-stop ticket to Brazil, a place where the extradition of criminals was not practiced.

While awaiting his flight to South America, Frank was recognized and arrested by Canadian police. Shortly thereafter, he was released into the custody of the FBI who made sure Frank was safely delivered to a federal detention center. Several months later, he was transferred to a prison in Georgia to await trial. Once again, Frank decided to attempt another bold escape. This time he enlisted the help of an outsider, an ex-girlfriend.

Abagnale stated that during the time of his incarceration, federal penal institutions were under intense scrutiny by public and government officials. Many of the institutions were investigated following an outcry for prisoners' civil rights. At the time, it was not unusual for undercover agents to pose as inmates in an effort to get information during their investigations into the prisons. Many of the guards working in the prisons made sport of who actually was or was not an inmate or an agent. 

From the moment Frank was committed to the institution, guards speculated that he was an undercover federal agent there to report on the conditions of the prison. He simply looked and acted the part. Frank went out of his way to confirm their suspicions.

Frank's ex-girlfriend posed as a journalist and went to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C. to hold a mock interview with an inspector. Before her departure she obtained a business card with the man's name inscribed on it. She later gave the card to Frank to be used in his plot to free himself.

Once in possession of the card, he persuaded the guards that he really was an undercover agent. He showed them the card and told them that he was a prison inspector. The guards laughed stating that they knew who he was all along. Much to his surprise, the men fell for his con and they eventually released him from the prison. Frank promptly fled back to New York and then to Washington, D.C.

While in the capital city, Frank stayed in a hotel where he planned his movement to another location. One day during his stay, he realized that FBI men surrounded his room. Taken off guard, he had moments to plan an escape from his current predicament.

Frank audaciously walked past the armed officers that waited for him, despite their orders for him to freeze. He coolly stated that he too was an FBI agent waiting for the arrival of another inspector. He then ordered the officers to continue their pursuit of the criminal. Surprisingly, the men dropped their weapons that were pointing at him and walked away towards the room where they believed the perpetrator to be. They hadn't realized that they had just let the offender go. Frank walked briskly from the scene and escaped into the sunset. 

There is no doubt that everyone has talents, whether hidden or exposed. Frank W. Abagnale was no exception to the rule. Not only did he have many talents but he was a genius in the truest

sense of the word, however misdirected he may have been. The truth is, among some of Frank's best known and least appreciated talents was his remarkable ability to create and utilize false identities as well as bogus checks. He was a con artist extraordinaire and probably one of the century's most cunning swindlers. His talent for deceiving the authorities and cheating banks, airlines and hotels out of millions of dollars was unprecedented. Even more extraordinary was that he was between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one-years old when he committed the majority of his crimes.

The Making of a Swindler

While stationed in Oran, Algiers during World War II, Frank W. Abganale Sr. met and fell in love with a beautiful and young French-born woman named Paulette. The two were married shortly thereafter and moved to the suburbs of New York following the war. While there, Frank Sr. established and ran what became a highly profitable stationery store on Madison Avenue.  The couple had one daughter and three sons including Frank W. Abagnale Jr. who was born on April 27, 1948.

Frank Jr. had an uncomplicated early childhood and maintained a good relationship with his parents, especially with his father with whom he was particularly close. However, in his mid teens Frank Jr.'s life took an unexpected turn when his mother decided to leave his father. The separation was not only difficult for Frank Jr. and his siblings, but especially so for Frank Sr. who remained deeply in love with his wife.

Frank Jr.'s life was forever changed by his parent's separation and eventual divorce. Following the breakup, Frank Jr. chose to live alone with his father after moving from the family home in Bronxville, New York. The two shared a very close relationship and often spent time together. Frank Sr. would sometimes take his son with him on business outings where he'd meet up with other prominent businessmen, street-wise blue collar workers and politicians. Frank Jr. learned a great deal from his interactions with his father's associates, which greatly contributed to his already burgeoning store of knowledge. Yet, although Frank Jr. showed obvious signs of high intellect, it didn't prevent him from getting into trouble during his teenage years.

At around the time his parents divorced Frank Jr. got mixed up with a gang of juvenile delinquents, who often took part in petty crimes, including shoplifting. Eventually, Frank Jr. broke away from the gang whose practice of thievery was far too unsophisticated for him, especially after they were arrested and thrown temporarily into a juvenile detention center. The incident did not prevent him from stealing, but instead marked the beginning of an extensive criminal career. Frank Jr. was a clever teenager and began to develop more proficient and lucrative ways of obtaining money.

Despite his bad behavior, Frank's father forgave him and even entrusted him with a 1952 Ford and a gas credit card. The car and gas card were to be used to help little Frank get to his new part-time clerical job at a nearby warehouse. However, Frank Jr. had other plans.

Like most teenage boys, girls were at the forefront of Frank's thoughts. He was an attractive youth who didn't have much difficulty attracting attention from young ladies. To his delight, the car elicited even more notice from the opposite sex, which resulted in a steady flow of dates. The only problem was that he made a limited amount of money from his part-time job. He had to devise another method of being able to afford to take his girlfriends out. It wasn't long before he decided that the gas card could serve as a key to solving his problems. 

Frank devised a clever, yet unethical scheme for obtaining money. Over a period of several months, Frank Jr. went about town charging items from the gas station onto his credit card. He made deals with numerous gas station attendants, in which he would charge countless numbers of tires, car batteries and other accessories onto the card and then be given in return only a fraction of the amount of the sale back in cash. The attendants pocketed the remaining part of the money, usually around 50%. It seemed like a win, win situation. The gas attendant made a buck, Frank Jr. obtained quick cash and the gas station also profited when it came time to collect on the bill. Yet, it wasn't necessarily a winning situation for Frank's father who eventually got stuck with a gas bill of several thousand dollars.

Following his devious exploits, Frank was returned to his mother's custody and promptly placed in a private school for delinquent boys for the period of one year. Also around the time of his son's reckless caper, Frank Sr.'s stationery business was undergoing financial difficulty. It is believed that the enormous credit card bill further exacerbated his monetary problems. Eventually, Frank Sr. faced financial ruin and the closing of his stationery store.

Frank Jr. later showed regret for having duped his father whom he loved and respected greatly. He was simply a young man with growing needs and an insatiable appetite for women and adventure. Unfortunately, money played an important role in the pursuit of his interests. None-the-less, Frank Sr. was a confident and forgiving man and showed little concern for his loss of fortune or anger at his son's misdeeds.

Due to the stress surrounding the divorce and his father's financial misfortune, Frank left home in 1964 at the age of sixteen. He was determined to forge his own way in the world, which was exactly what he did. In fact, he would become one of the country's most notorious forgers.

Preparing for Takeoff

Frank left home with a checkbook and $200 in his bank account and set off to New York City. He temporarily lived with the family of a young boy whom he met during his train ride to the city. It wasn't long before Frank also found a job at a stationery firm, using his experience from working in his father's business.

It was more difficult to earn a decent living than Frank initially thought, especially without a high school diploma. If he were to ever live on his own one day, he would have to make more

than the $1.50 an hour he was earning. Frank had an idea that would increase his net worth in terms of his wages.

He decided to alter his birth date on his driver's license by adding another ten years to his age. His tactic was believable because he was mature for his age and six-foot tall with premature graying hair. Frank also decided to push the envelope a little further. He began to exaggerate about his education, knowing that it would likely result in a further increase in his wages. However, he quickly realized that even if he lied about his age and education, the jobs available would pay only enough to provide for the bare minimum in comfort. Frank had higher expectations.

The easiest route presented itself in the form of a checkbook. As soon as Frank arrived in New York, he opened a checking account and received blank checks. He was determined to use the checks in a less conventional manner than what they were intended for.

Instead of earning a living, Frank decided to quit his job and write bad checks in order to support himself.   Before long, he had written hundreds of bum checks and had overdrawn on his checking account by thousands of dollars. Frank knew that the police would eventually catch up with him if he stayed where he was. So, he decided it was best to move away and change his name. While he was in the midst of determining what to do and where to go, Frank had a revelation.

According to an article by About.com, he was struck with an ingenious idea to alter his identity after witnessing several airline pilots and stewardess' enjoying themselves outside of New York's Commodore Hotel. Frank thought that if he were able to get a hold of a pilot's uniform he would have more success with cashing checks all about town because pilots were generally more credible and respected professionals. Thus, bank tellers would less likely be suspicious of him swindling money when he went to cash his bad checks.

From that moment on, Frank set his elaborate scheme into motion. He decided that he would find a way to get a uniform and whatever else he needed so that he could pose as a pilot in order to cash his checks. It would prove to be a more difficult con to pull off than what he initially expected.

In an interview with Norman Swan in March 2000, Frank described how he went about acquiring a Pan American (Pan Am) uniform and impersonating an airline pilot. He contacted a purchasing agent at Pan American Airlines' corporate headquarters and told them he was a pilot for the company and that the hotel he was staying at in New York lost his uniform. He was instructed by the agent to visit a company specializing in Pan Am uniforms on 5th Avenue, which he promptly did. That very day, Frank was fitted with a Pan Am co-pilot's uniform, which was charged to a fictionalized employee number he invented while filling out the paper work.

Frank walked out of the building with his uniform in hand, having conquered one of the first of what would be many obstacles in his scheme. However, to make his new persona more

believable, he realized he needed a Pan Am pass card. After looking in the yellow pages and making several phone calls, Frank learned that the 3M Company was responsible for making passes and IDs for several airline companies, including Pan Am.

Frank contacted the company, pretending to be a purchasing officer interested in buying new ID cards for his company. He then set up an interview. During the meeting with the sales representative, Frank was shown catalogs of the IDs they offered. He noticed in a catalog that there was a sample ID similar to that used by Pan Am. He told the salesman that he wanted to take back a completely finished copy of the pass, using as an example his picture and name so that his imaginary colleagues could see what the end result of the product would look like. The salesman complied with Frank's request and made him a sample pass with his name and picture on it. The card was almost an exact replica of the Pan Am pass, but without the logo.

Frank solved the emblem problem by buying a model Pan Am plane, which had a copy of the logo inclusive in the model kit. He removed the famous symbol and carefully placed it on the ID pass card. The finished product looked almost flawless. Another obstacle was removed from Frank's grand plan. 

Frank had two more areas to cover before his new identity was complete, an FAA license that was required by every pilot and knowledge concerning the airline business. First, he decided to obtain as much information as possible about aviation, piloting and terminology used by those in the industry. Much of what he learned about the field came from library books, although they were often outdated.

In an attempt to update his budding knowledge about the aviation industry, Frank decided that it would be more lucrative to obtain information first hand. He arranged several interviews with executives and personnel at Pan Am's headquarters posing as a student doing a research project on the company and pilots. It was a brilliant idea. He gained a wealth of relevant information, including knowledge of company policies and regulations about co-pilots, the types of planes used and the international hubs where the airline flew.

Most importantly, Frank learned about deadheading. Deadheading was an airline employee privilege that allowed a worker to fly to far-off destinations on other airlines to fulfill specific job requirements elsewhere. The employers would almost always cover the expenses of the trip. Frank was particularly interested with this concept, because if he were able to pose as a pilot he might also be able to hitch free rides on the airplanes around the world. He kept the knowledge in the back of his head and focused on accomplishing his plan.

The next issue Frank had to resolve was the FAA license. He learned that without the license he would not be able to impersonate a pilot, because the crew was often required to show the FAA license to airline personnel prior to outbound flights. Frank solved the problem by obtaining a plaque from a firm specializing in mounting licenses in silver. According to Abagnale's book, the FAA had a mail-order branch within the company. Frank falsified his name as Frank Williams and sent away for the plaque. Upon receiving it, he took the plaque to a printer and had it downsized, mounted on special paper and laminated. Voila! Frank was ready to take off into the wild blue yonder.

Taking Flight

Frank now had in his possession a replica FAA license, a Pan Am pass card, a working knowledge of the aviation industry, a company uniform and the audacity to pull off a remarkable con. Using the alias Frank Williams, he went around to area banks opening accounts in his pilot's uniform. During his rounds of New York's many financial institutions, he often drew a great deal of attention and respect from the bank employees, due to his admirable status as an airline co-pilot. Little did they know that he was merely a creative and adventurous kid making sport of pushing the envelope and testing people's perceptions.

In the 1960s, the aviation industry and those who worked in it were highly esteemed. Being a pilot was a prestigious position, even more so than today. According to Abagnale, it was considered even more illustrious to be a pilot for Pan Am, which was a flag carrier and called to be the "Ritz Carlton of airlines". Thus, it was not unusual for Frank to receive the attention he did when he entered banks or merely walking around in public sporting his pilot uniform.

To Frank's delight much of the attention came from beautiful women, which he decided to use to his advantage. While making frequent visits to the airports to collect information, Frank met many stewardesses who expressed a keen interest in him. His charm, good looks and uniform resulted in a torrent of dates and several short-term relationships. During his many outings with the stewardesses, Frank not only learned about the mysteries of older women but also a great deal of information about the workings of the industry.

Eventually, Frank felt confident enough to attempt deadheading on a flight to Miami. He boarded an Eastern Airline 727 plane in his uniform after filling out a form stating his name, employee number and other pertinent information. When on the plane he made his way to the cockpit, eventually discovered the jump seat and prepared for any questions that might be asked by the pilots. One mistake would completely blow his cover and land him in jail.

To Frank's surprise, the pilots took little interest in him and the flight was mostly uneventful. He landed a short while later in Miami, breathing a sigh of relief. From then on, deadheading would be Frank's preferred method of travel for a couple years to follow. It was free and he had access anywhere in the world to cash his rubber checks. Moreover, Pan Am picked up the tab for his accommodations while abroad, which served as an additional benefit throughout his criminal career.

There was no doubt that Frank's check-cashing scheme had taken on many dimensions and become more intricate than even he had initially planned. In fact, not only had he become a successful check swindler but also an accomplished imposter. In his later autobiography, Frank stated that the key to his success rested on three critical factors: his personality, keen observation and intense research before attempting any elaborate scam.

During Devin Faraci's 2002 interview with Frank, he stated that during his check swindling days, he researched check cashing in particular detail, making sure to alter the check numbers in such a way that they would be rerouted and take longer to identify as fraudulent. This research allowed him to cash several bad checks in a row at the same bank. Frank was quoted as saying "I realized that the numbers (on the checks) were like zip codes, so if you altered that number the check would go somewhere else. The farther you sent it, the longer it would take to get back. That's how I was able to go back to the same bank over and over." 

Moreover, Frank was successful at cashing bum checks for a long period of time because he would open real checking accounts under assumed names. He often used real cash deposits and provided the bank with an actual address where he was staying or a post office box where he would receive a box of personalized checks. The details made the entire transaction more credible. Frank then would overdraw significant amounts from the account by writing checks for hundreds or even thousands of dollars at a time. This he did at banks throughout the country and world, making it difficult for the authorities to catch up with him. By the time investigators realized the checks were bad, Frank was already on route to another destination opening more accounts.

Frank was constantly on the run in order to evade capture. The thousands of dollars he conned out of banks were kept in safe deposit boxes throughout the country to be used at whim. One would think that a young man with all that money, female companionship and traveling around the world must surely have been enjoying himself. However, the fact was that Frank was not happy. He was tired of trying to outrun the police and he was very lonely. In his interview with Swan, Frank stated that everyone he met thought him to be somebody who he was not and that he couldn't have any serious relationships because he always had to give a fake name. He also knew that his lifestyle would not last forever and that it was only a matter of time before the authorities caught up with him.

Eventually, Frank did experience his first brush with the law on a deadhead flight to Miami. When his flight landed in Dade County, three officers intercepted him while he was still on the plane. Although Frank vigorously maintained that he was Frank Williams and an actual pilot, the officers still took him to the police station for questioning.    

During the interview by investigators, Frank produced his false identification and gave the men several names of people to call to confirm his status. Fortunately for Frank he had made acquaintances with some of the airline personnel during his many deadheading flights that believed him to be an actual co-pilot. When the police made contact with his acquaintances, they confirmed Frank's position with Pan Am, not knowing he wasn't a real co-pilot. Once Frank's status was confirmed, the police apologized and let him go.

It was a close call for Frank which threatened his security. Shortly after his run in with the police, he decided to lay low for a while. He took refuge in Atlanta, Georgia where his life would take another unexpected turn.

Calling Dr. Williams

While in Atlanta, Frank found an elegant and youthful residential community where he decided to lease an apartment for the duration of one year. According to Abagnale's book, Frank listed his occupation as an out-of-town doctor while filling out his leasing application, hoping it would deter any background check on his identity. When questioned about his profession, he informed the leasing manager that he was a pediatrician taking a break from his duties to catch up on much deserved rest and relaxation.

One day, a doctor who recently moved into the community paid an unexpected visit to Frank at his new home. Frank was nervous at first, fearing that the doctor would realize he was a fake. However, he learned that the doctor was not as interested in talking shop as he was about women. After meeting on several occasions and getting to know each other, the two learned that they had a great deal in common and, before long, they became friends.

The doctor asked Frank if he would like one day to pay a visit to the hospital where he worked and Frank readily agreed. Frank's one visit to the hospital turned into numerous visits and he gradually became acquainted and friendly with other hospital staff. Eventually, he was granted access to the medical library, which delighted him because he was eager to learn as much as he could about his new role as a pediatrician.

Frank's obvious eagerness and pleasant disposition caught the attention of the hospital's administrator who asked him one day to a meeting. Frank accepted but he couldn't ignore his nagging fear that maybe the man had caught onto the fact that he was an imposter. To his surprise, the administrator made the most unusual proposition. He asked Frank to take a temporary position at the hospital supervising medical interns during the night shift to replace a doctor who had to leave unexpectedly. Although Frank initially refused, the administrator was able to persuade him to take up the position. Before long, Frank was appointed to the hospital as a resident supervisor and given authorization to temporarily practice in the state of Georgia.

Frank used humor to cover the fact that he lacked the basic knowledge of a pediatrician. If he didn't know something or was asked an uncomfortable question, he would joke about it and skirt around the issue, often leaving the actual details of the work to other resident doctors. His wit and humor worked well for him. It successfully covered his ignorance, but at the same time also earned him a reputation as a jovial, if eccentric, doctor who was much liked by the hospital staff.

Frank was able to maintain his position as a supervising doctor because he was not expected to actually perform any medical procedures on patients. He knew that the moment he was asked to tend to a patient and make clinical decisions, his cover would be blown due to his lack of medical knowledge. It was only a matter of time before Frank's charade would be tested, prompting him to rethink his potentially dangerous game.

One day, a child was brought into the hospital's emergency room with a leg injury. Frank was called into action to assist. Instead of treating the patient himself, he left the work to his interns who were eager to impress their supervisor. Frank managed the situation, yet it concerned him greatly that he was actually responsible for the lives of people. It was no longer a game to him.

According to an article in About.com, Frank made the decision to leave the hospital at that moment, realizing that he could have endangered the child's life. He resigned shortly thereafter, having worked at the hospital for a little less than a year. He also made plans to leave the state. Frank's next destination was Louisiana, where once again his life took another unexpected turn.

Practicing and Evading the Law

While in Louisiana, Frank met up with a stewardess who he met during his deadheading adventures several years prior. The two dated for a while, but the woman never knew Frank's real identity for fear that she might expose his illegal escapades. Instead, Frank led her to believe that he was not only an airline co-pilot but that he also had a degree in law, although he never practiced.

During a party one night that the two attended, Frank's girlfriend introduced him to a lawyer who worked in the offices of the state's district attorney. The lawyer took an interest in him, especially because Frank claimed that he received his law degree from Harvard. The lawyer told Frank that there was a position open at the attorney general's offices that he should pursue. He said to Frank that all he had to do was take his university transcripts to the examiner's office and apply for the Louisiana bar examination. Once he passed the bar, Frank would be able to fill the position.  

It was a challenge that intrigued Frank and he believed that he might actually be able to pull it off. Not long after his conversation with the lawyer, Frank made counterfeit transcripts, allegedly from Harvard Law School. After conducting research on the classes offered at Harvard, he gathered the necessary materials to construct the mock transcripts. The end result was impressive. Although he had never seen an actual transcript from the law school, it looked as if it might be able to pass as real. He decided to give it a try and put it to the test.

The next step was to attempt the bar exam. Frank studied law books for weeks before he felt confident enough to take the test. Once he felt he knew a sufficient amount to pass, he registered with the examiner's office, supplying them with his fake transcripts. Eventually he was summoned to the office to take the exam. It was no surprise that he flunked, since he had never attended law school in his life.

Frank later stated in an interview with Faraci that "Louisiana at the time allowed you to (take) the Bar over and over as many times as you needed. It was really a matter of eliminating what you got wrong", which was exactly what he did. Surprisingly, after his third try Frank passed and received a license to practice law. 

Shortly thereafter, Frank applied for the job at the offices of the attorney general. Following an interview, he was hired as a legal assistant working in the corporate law division of the attorney general. He was also given an annual salary of approximately $13,000. Frank had risen to the challenge and succeeded in his quest. There was no doubt that his art of deception had rivaled some of the most talented con artists in history.

According to his autobiography, Frank enjoyed his new position, regardless of the fact that he was more or less a glamorized errand boy, fetching documents and even coffee for his superiors. Even though he acquired the job under false pretenses, Frank was earning a somewhat legitimate living, which paid well. It seemed as if he had found his niche, yet Frank's false sense of security didn't last long.

The attorney general had on his staff another lawyer who happened to be a real Harvard graduate. Frank began to feel the pressure, especially when the new lawyer made repeated attempts to befriend his alleged fellow alumni. When the lawyer began to ask too many questions about his background, Frank became particularly uncomfortable. He knew that if he were to stay there for a prolonged period of time, his scheme would be uncovered or the authorities would eventually catch up with him. Frank decided to leave his job as a lawyer and pursue another career.

Frank fell back temporarily into his old persona as an airline co-pilot. This time, he acquired a second uniform from Trans World Airways (TWA) and created a new FAA license and ID pass card. Thus, he had a complete set of credentials for both Pan Am and TWA. Once again, he was free to travel around the world, cashing bad checks with unsuspecting banks.

Making the Grade

During his travels, Frank visited the state of Utah, which impressed him with its natural beauty and lovely women. He was especially drawn to the university campuses in the area, where the ladies were particularly youthful and stunning. It was a place Frank was not eager to leave, so he decided to stick around and teach a few classes, despite the fact that he had no previous teaching experience or credentials. However, he refused to allow such minor details deter him.

Frank contacted the dean of Brigham Young University and set up an appointment, posing as a professor of sociology. He informed the dean that he worked as a university instructor for a couple of years before he left the field and became an airline pilot. He suggested that he was interested in returning to his roots as a teacher and would be like to work at the university. The dean was highly impressed with Frank's background and charm and he looked forward to their meeting.

With falsified credentials in hand, Frank went to the scheduled interview. After a brief discussion with Frank, the dean made his decision. According to his autobiography, Frank was "hired within the hour to teach two six-week courses during the summer at a salary of $1,600 per semester." Once again, Frank had accomplished the unthinkable. He immediately began to research the position and study the books he would use so that he would be prepared for his new job.

His masquerade as a professor was a success. Frank's classes were not only interesting and the talk of the campus but he was also highly revered by his students. Moreover, Frank thoroughly enjoyed his newfound, although temporary position. Unfortunately for Frank his stint as a

professor was short-lived and at the end of the summer he was let go with an invitation from the dean to return when a permanent position became available. 

Frank left Utah and made his way to California where he returned to what he knew best, "paperhanging" or writing bad checks. He became even more sophisticated in his role as a con artist and forger, making tens of thousands of dollars more than he had previously. Most of the money he made was from cashing counterfeit expense checks that he manufactured himself. In fact, Frank was so proficient at his criminal trade that he managed to accumulate almost $100,000.

Frank was now in his late teens and incredibly wealthy for his age. But he was still lonely. This loneliness ended when he met and fell in love with a young stewardess. Frank and the young woman were so enthralled with one another that they began to discuss marriage. However Frank began to feel ill at ease because she had no idea who he really was. Moreover, she was a "good girl" and he feared she would not accept his shady background.

One day, Frank decided to come clean. He revealed to her his true identity and his devious criminal lifestyle, hoping that she would overlook his shortcomings and unconditionally accept him. Frank was surprised when instead of forgiving him she informed the police and the FBI of his whereabouts. Frank narrowly evaded capture and was once again on his own and on the move.

Frank traveled the world over using his airline uniforms to hitch rides to far-off destinations. He also continued to "paperhang" as often as he could. During a trip to France, he met a stewardess with whom he began a relationship. Before long he learned that his girlfriend's father ran a family print shop. Naturally, Frank was very interested in meeting her father, eager to make a proposition to him. Eventually, he was introduced to the man and asked him if he would be interested in performing a large print job, allegedly for Pan Am. Frank requested an order of 10,000 Pan Am payroll checks, which the girl's father agreed to fill.

To Frank's delight the checks were superbly made. Unbeknownst to his girlfriend or her father, Frank successfully passed them off to area banks in return for large amounts of cash. He then returned to the states, where he collected even larger sums of cash from his illegal exploits.    

Not long after his return to the U.S., state troopers apprehended Frank at a Boston Airport while he was waiting for a flight to depart. They immediately took him to jail and charged him with vagrancy until they were able to gather enough information on him proving he was the infamous Frank Abagnale Jr. However, the police never had a chance to discover his true identity. Frank was released on bail just barely missing the FBI who was enroute to collect him. Once again, he escaped a close call with the authorities, yet he refused to let the incident slow him down. In fact, Frank became even bolder in his attempts to obtain money.  

According to Abagnale's book, soon after he was released from jail, he rented a security guard uniform and stood in front of a night-deposit box at the airport where he was captured just hours earlier. Frank held before him a large canvas bag and waited for people to drop off their nightly deposits, which they did by the dozens. They, like many others had been misguided by Frank's

uniform. When the bag began to fill, he decided to put the loot in the car he rented for the occasion. However, the bag was too heavy for him to carry. Surprisingly, a couple of state troopers assisted Frank with loading the bag into his car unaware that he was in the process of stealing the money. Frank drove off with more than $60,000 in cash, outwitting the people who sought to detain him.

Catching Up and Coming Clean

Frank seemed almost invincible. Most everything he attempted, he succeeded in, including eluding the police and FBI. With every new plan, he perfected his techniques in con artistry, forgery and impersonation. One particular scheme he devised showed evidence of how talented he had become in his criminal trade.

Thinking of a way he could cash a multitude of checks at one time, Frank came up with an extraordinary idea. He decided that he would no longer travel alone but with an aircrew, preferably consisting of beautiful stewardesses. If he were able to find women to act as a front for him, he would be able to cash in more checks, appear more credible and avoid any suspicion.

While visiting Arizona, Frank had set up an interview with the director of student placement at the state university. During the meeting, Frank discussed the possibility of recruiting a handful of junior and senior women to act as public relations representatives purportedly for Pan Am. He further suggested that the chosen women would be given the opportunity to spend the summer traveling Europe, with all expenses allegedly paid by the company. Moreover, the girls would be supplied with stewardess uniforms and comparable salary as well as letters of employment, which would grant them opportunity to work for the airline following graduation. It appeared to be the chance of a lifetime for anyone lucky enough to be chosen. Appearances were Frank's key method of deception.

The eight young women who were eventually chosen were all thrilled to have a chance to see other countries and experience to a stewardesses' lifestyle. Besides, the money was exceptional considering they were being paid to have fun. They had no idea that they were merely a part of an elaborate scam. The group of women traveled to more than a dozen European countries throughout the summer, taking part in photo shoots, supposedly to be used for advertising purposes by Pan Am. The photo sessions, scheduled by Frank with commercial photography companies, had no particular relevance except to make the scam more credible to the girls.

Franks real interest was to manufacture phony Pan Am expense checks for each girl for the primary purpose of having them endorsed over to him. The sum of each check was made out for an amount significantly larger than their actual expenses. Frank paid the bills and pocketed the remaining money, making sure the women were constantly with him to make the transaction all the more convincing. By the time the summer was over and the girls returned home after having been paid for their services, Frank had pocketed approximately $300,000.

Following his audacious scam, Frank decided to slow down with the check fraud game for fear that the authorities would catch up with him. He moved to Montpellier, France, at the age of twenty, not far from where his mother was born. Frank quickly settled into his cozy new cottage, after having changed his name to Robert Monjo. To further protect his identity, he posed as a successful Hollywood screenwriter and author.

Finally, for the first time in years Frank made an attempt to live a normal life. However, he knew that the risk of being caught significantly increased if he continued to stay in one place for a prolonged period of time, but it was a chance he was willing to take. He had simply spent too long on the run and he was tired.

It was only a matter of time before the authorities caught up with Frank. In fact, they were not too far behind. Heading the FBI investigative team was Joseph Shea who spent years looking for Frank. In fact, it had taken years just to figure out that Frank was not an adult but actually a kid. Only four months after Frank moved to France, Shea learned of Frank's location. Apparently, an ex-girlfriend who was a stewardess recognized him on a wanted poster and immediately notified the French police, who in turn contacted the FBI.

The authorities went to the small city to collect the young man who had generated so much financial havoc around the world, having passed a total of $2.5 million dollars worth of bad checks. They eventually found Frank shopping in a grocery store nearby his home. They immediately apprehended him, taking him to the Montpellier police station to be booked for his crimes committed in France. After a brief interrogation, Frank admitted to being Frank Abagnale Jr. but refused to reveal any specific information concerning his crimes.

In less than a week's time, Frank was tried in a French court and a couple days later found guilty on several charges, including fraud. He was sentenced to one year in the notorious prison Perpignan, but ended up serving only six months of the prison term. It was more than enough time, considering the horrific conditions of the institution.

Following his extradition to Sweden and eventually to the United States, Frank once again found himself on the run after having escaped the police and FBI on several occasions. There weren't many places left for him to hide. According to Abagnale's book, The Art of the Steal, he was apprehended a final time while hiding out in New York. He was eventually released into the custody of the FBI and tried for his crimes.

Frank was found guilty and received a sentence of twelve years. Following his sentencing, he was remanded to the Federal Correction Institution in Petersburg, Virginia. However, he was granted early parole at the age of twenty-six years, having spent a total of five years behind bars. Finally, Frank was free and had the chance to make a new beginning, although it would prove to be difficult.

Following his release, Frank worked at a series of low paying jobs, although they were mostly short-lived. Frank tried to conceal from his employers that he was an ex-con, knowing it was likely they would not hire him if they knew the truth. However his employers would eventually learn the truth and immediately fire him.

After a while, Frank began to get frustrated because he knew he had talents that could be of use to somebody somewhere. He just had to find a client that would be interested in his skills and maybe in some way profit from them. He also knew he had to find a way to market himself.

Surprisingly, it was the very people that captured Frank that would offer him a second chance. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies were just the people who could gain from what he knew. They needed to know the workings of a criminal mind from first hand experience so that they could use the knowledge to better apprehend offenders. Frank began to lecture to them for free, realizing that he had to in some way repay his debt to society.

Before long, more jobs came Frank's way but ones which paid. In fact, as the years went buy, Frank's knowledge was in great demand by major companies around the world. Companies realized that they could save millions if not billions of dollars protecting themselves from con artists and counterfeiters and Frank was just the man that could provide them with the valuable information they needed.

To date, Frank is one of the world's foremost authorities on document fraud, including check swindling, forgery and embezzlement. According to his company website Abagnale.com. Frank has been a consultant, lectured and instructed hundreds of seminars worldwide and continues to offer his services for free to the FBI. Moreover, he has published several books, manuals and articles and has designed secure checks that are utilized by businesses worldwide.

There is no doubt that Frank has made great efforts to make amends for his past wrongs.  He successfully rehabilitated himself and has channeled his talents in a more positive direction. According to an interview with Frank by Laura Pulfer, Frank stated that his relationship with his wife of more than a quarter of a century and his belief in God has led to his about face. He currently lives in the Midwest with his wife and three sons.

Capture and imprisonment

Abagnale was eventually caught in France in 1969 when an Air France attendant he had dated in the past recognized him and notified the police. When the French police apprehended him, 12 countries in which he had committed fraud sought his extradition. After a two-day trial, he first served time in Perpignan's prison — a one-year sentence that the presiding judge at his trial reduced to six months. At Perpignan he was held nude in a tiny, filthy, lightless cell that he was never allowed to leave. The cell lacked toilet facilities, a mattress, or a blanket, and food and water were severely restricted.

He was then extradited to Sweden, where he was treated more humanely under Swedish law. During trial for forgery, his defense attorney almost had his case dismissed by arguing that he had created the fake checks and not forged them, but his charges were instead reduced to swindling and fraud. Following another conviction, he served six months in a Malmö prison, only to learn at the end of it he would be tried next in Italy. Later, a Swedish judge asked a U.S.

State Department official to revoke his passport. Without a valid passport, the Swedish authorities were legally compelled to deport him to the United States, where he was sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison for multiple counts of forgery.

Alleged escapes

While being deported to the U.S., Abagnale escaped from a British VC-10 airliner as it was turning onto a taxiway at New York's JFK International Airport. Under cover of night, he scaled a nearby fence and hailed a cab to Grand Central Terminal. After stopping in The Bronx to change clothes and pick up a set of keys to a Montreal bank safe deposit box containing $20,000, Abagnale caught a train to Montreal's Dorval airport to purchase a ticket to São Paulo, Brazil. After a close call at a Mac's Milk in Dundas, Ontario, he was apprehended by a constable of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police while standing in line at the ticket counter. Abagnale was subsequently handed over to the U.S. Border Patrol.

In April 1971, Abagnale reportedly escaped from the Federal Detention Center in Atlanta, Georgia, while awaiting trial. In his book, Abagnale considers this to be one of the most infamous escapes in history. During the time, U.S. prisons were being condemned by civil rights groups and investigated by congressional committees. In a stroke of luck that included the accompanying U.S. marshal forgetting his detention commitment papers, Abagnale was mistaken for an undercover prison inspector and was even given privileges and food far better than the other inmates. The Federal Department of Corrections in Atlanta had already lost two employees as a result of reports written by undercover federal agents and Abagnale took advantage of their vulnerability. He contacted a friend (called in his book "Jean Sebring") who posed as his fiancée and slipped him the business card of "Inspector C.W. Dunlap" of the Bureau of Prisons, which she had obtained by posing as a freelance writer doing an article on fire safety measures in federal detention centers. She also handed over a business card from "Sean O'Riley" (later revealed to be Joe Shea), the FBI agent in charge of Abagnale's case, which she doctored at a stationery print shop. Abagnale told the corrections officers that he was indeed a prison inspector and handed over Dunlap's business card as proof. He told them that he needed to contact FBI Agent Sean O'Riley on a matter of urgent business.

O'Riley's phone number (actually the number altered by Sebring) was dialed and picked up by Jean Sebring at a payphone in an Atlanta shopping mall, posing as an operator at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Later, he was allowed to meet unsupervised with O'Riley in a predetermined car outside the detention center. Sebring, incognito, picked Abagnale up and drove him to an Atlanta bus station where he took a Greyhound bus to New York, and soon thereafter, a train to Washington, D.C. Abagnale then bluffed his way through an attempted capture by posing as an FBI agent after being recognized by a motel registration clerk. Still intent on making his way to Brazil, Abagnale was picked up a few weeks later by two NYPD detectives when he inadvertently walked past their unmarked police car.

Media appearances

Abagnale appeared on the TV quiz show To Tell the Truth in 1977, along with two contestants presenting themselves as him. In the 1970s, he also appeared at least three times as a guest on the Tonight Show, and was interviewed on one occasion by guest host George Carlin.

In the early 1990s Abagnale was featured as a recurring guest on the UK television series The Secret Cabaret, produced by Open Media for Channel 4. The show was based around magic and illusions with a sinister, almost gothic presentation style, and Abagnale was featured as an expert exposing various confidence tricks.

Abagnale's semi-autobiographic book, Catch Me If You Can, was turned into a movie, of the same name, by Steven Spielberg in 2002, featuring actor Leonardo DiCaprio as Abagnale. The real Abagnale made a cameo appearance in this film as one of the French police officers taking DiCaprio into custody. This movie was later the basis for a musical, of the same name, which opened in 2011 with Aaron Tveit as Abagnale. The musical received four Tony Awards nominations, including one for Best Musical, winning Best Actor In A Musical for Norbert Leo Butz.

In 2007 Abagnale appeared in a short role as a speaker in the BBC TV series The Real Hustle. He spoke of different scams run by fraudsters.

Personal life

Abagnale lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with his wife, whom he married one year after becoming legitimate. They have three sons, including one who currently works for the FBI. Abagnale and Joe Shea, the FBI agent on whom the character of Carl Hanratty was based for the film Catch Me If You Can, remained close friends until Shea's death.

Imprisonment and Later Life

Abagnale served time in France, Sweden and the United States for his crimes. Frank was eventually granted parole by the United States when he was 26. In exchange, the government told Abagnale that he had to educate them about his methods, in order to prevent others from defrauding the government. Frank worked for the FBI for more than 30 years as one of the world’s foremost authorities on document fraud, check swindling, forgery and embezzlement. He also started his own company, Abagnale & Associates, which educates others on how to avoid becoming fraud victims. Abagnale also wrote the books The Art of the Steal and Stealing Your Life, both about fraud prevention.

In 2002, Steven Spielberg made a film about Abagnale's life, Catch Me If You Can, based on Abagnale's 1980 book by the same name. Leonardo DiCaprio starred as the famous imposter in the film. The film inspired a Broadway musical version of Abagnale's life, which hit theaters in 2011.

Our Choice

The major reason why we choose Frank Abagnale Jr. as a passer that we wanted to analyze is because we was interested in his change. A man who made easy money starting at an age of 16 during 5 years was really amazing to me; however, it is his change that astonished me. We believed that feeling lonely was his motif to change. Now he is a very successful businessman, he has a beautiful family and he is very happy.

In addition, the fact that he was always challenging himself opened the door to compare his actions to my past actions and somehow we found similarities which made me wonder what my IQ is. His story certainly changed my thoughts towards the super ego and what is right and wrong. At the time he did all those fraudulent activities, he knew it was wrong yet he continued doing it. It makes me think about how powerful the brain of a human being is. In this case, it was powerful enough to kept Frank motivated towards his job and criminal passing.

He made me remember a time when I committed a fraud which I always reject. I was really young and I didn’t know the consequences. Unlike Frank, I did have the support of my family which helped me a lot to recover from that embarrassment. Since then, I promised to myself that I will always be true in my operations. Unlike Frank, I didn’t do it for money or survival; I did it for fun but soon understood it wasn’t fun but risky and that I put my family in an awful situation.

As Frank I also posed to be who I wasn’t. For example, I will say to my friends that I surf even though I have no idea how to surf. When I came to Canada, it was easy to just come up with something cool to impress other and to impress girls because nobody knew about me but now I know that there is a price for that, shame. Unlike Abagnale, I haven’t share my experience with anyone however I have learned that it is better to be true to the ones you care.

One important lesson I learned from Frank is that change for good is the best feeling ever and that the most important in life is family, friends and faith.

Frank Abagnale Quotes

"If my forgeries looked as bad as the CBS documents, it would have been 'Catch Me In Two Days'."

“What I did in my youth is hundreds of times easier today. Technology breeds crime.”

"Remember what being an adult is: It has nothing to do with money or awards"

References

http://www.biography.com/people/frank-abagnale-20657335

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale

http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/scams/frank_abagnale/

Art of The Steal

Skywayman: The Story of Frank W. Abagnale Jr.

Catch Me If You Can