The True Story Behind 'Catch Me If You Can'

The story of master criminal mind Frank Abignale Jr.

MUSIC
SFX Provided By AudioBlocks

STILLS
Stewardessen der Pan-Am
picture alliance/Getty Images
Ori Eisen (Left) and Frank Abagnale talk about online fraud and identification issues.29AUG14
South China Morning Post/Getty Images
From Leipzig to Paris and Amsterdam
picture alliance/Getty Images
Denver Post Archives
Denver Post/Getty Images
Catch Me If You Can press conference
Andy Butterton - PA Images/Getty Images
ME.Checks.Raes2.KH.10/31/96.Detective Werner R. Raes (cq), economic crimes detail, holds up a forged
Kari Rene Hall/Getty Images
Credit Card Crime
Ted Soqui/Getty Images
Prison Guard Tower
Underwood Archives/Getty Images
"Catch Me If You Can" Broadway Opening Night - Arrivals & Curtain Call
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
DreamWorks Premiere of Catch Me If You Can - Jeff Kravitz
Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images
"Catch Me If You Can" Broadway Rehearsal Sneak Peek
Janette Pellegrini/Getty Images
Girl displaying treasure chest of Florida citrus at beach
Dennis Hallinan/Getty Images
"Catch Me If You Can" Premiere - Los Angeles
Steve Granitz/Getty Images
"Catch Me If You Can" Premiere - Paris
Toni Anne Barson Archive/Getty Images
One-time fugitive Frank Abagnale gives a thumbs up
LEE CELANO/Getty Images
Exterior view of Atlanta Federal Prison.
Myron Davis/Getty Images

VIDEO
33rd AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to George Lucas
WireImage Video/Getty Images
MONTAGE Operation of mail sorting machines in London / United Kingdom
BFI HD Collection/Getty Images
September 21, 2001 TD Ceiling and chandelier of fine dining restaurant with patrons dining / New York City, New York, United States
NewsHour Productions-2010/10 MR ED/E/Getty Images
1979 MONTAGE Officer worker ordering inventory over the phone / United States
Film Audio Services/Getty Images
Driving along high barbed wire fence
opal2/Getty Images
Hands of a Young Woman using an Old Telephone Cabin in a Street of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Close-Up.
istockmaradona/Getty Images
Worker in the printing house cuts a pack of paper on a machine making business cards
Dmitrii Motorin/Getty Images
She is enjoying her carefree life
polly_belyaeva/Getty Images
Asian man hand reading a interesting book while staying at home. He turning page of learning English book . Adult man using his finger pointing on a book.
5432action/Getty Images
Panning view over Provo and BYU campus
Stock Footage, Inc./Getty Images
Emergency entrance at the CHI Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee amid Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic crisis ( NO AUDIO )
WW News/Getty Images
The jailer examines the prison cell
Ilya Ginzburg/Getty Images
Louisiana State Capitol
Stock Footage Pro/Getty Images
Hacking a vintage old vintage TV or computer monitor screen 80s 90s style. Glitches on screen monitor. Abstract source code data flow. Purple and blue text. screen noise. VHS style. Old kinescope
kingsparkmedia/Getty Images
Atlanta Aerial v363 Flying low around Capital building sunny cityscape
benlynn/Getty Images
Wide shot of passengers disembarking Pan Am plane walking down to tarmac
Reflex Technologies/Getty Images
Male Surgeon Wearing Scrubs Washing Hands Before Operation In Hospital Operating Theater
monkeybusinessimages/Getty Images
Leonardo DiCaprio at the 92nd Annual Academy Awards
Getty Images Video/Getty Images
Large screen of code for hacker, hands typing malicious code.
shanghaiguy/Getty Images
Closeup of electronic or automatic machine for counting bills or money. Banknote or currency counter counts one hundred / 100 CNY Chinese yuan cash, banking and commercial activity, financial concept.
William_Potter/Getty Images
Heavy Midtown Manhattan traffic goes through and a crowd of people crosses the Fifth Avenue during the Christmas Holidays season at New York City NY USA on Dec. 28 2019.
Toshi Sasaki/Getty Images
Manhattan sunset from a drone
Videe This/Getty Images
Collection of volumes of books of blue color by different writers on a bookshelf
cinejinn/Getty Images
I'm so glad to hear that you're doing well...
Cecilie_Arcurs/Getty Images
Aerial view of Harvard university in Cambridge
Hugo Will/Getty Images
a man checks a banknote of 20 euros for authenticity
Viktar Lameika/Getty Images
Three detectives working at night in office to solve a crime
South_agency/Getty Images
Luxury vacations for a wealthier clientele
Sean Anthony Eddy/Getty Images
Tom Hanks on Being Taken Advantage Of
Pyramid Productions/Getty Images
Relaxing at the pool.
FilmColoratStudio/Getty Images
Back view of captain walking into the cockpit

[sarasenft]

"I was too young to think about engagement"
But not too young for all these other crimes at 16 😭😭

[morganz.]

I think why people like Frank so much is not just how brilliantly clever he was, but how he didn't do any of his crimes maliciously but only to better his own life so that he could be happy and not have to worry about finances. He pulled off crazy crimes and didn't hurt anyone in the process.

[rubbaducky]

He actually came and told his story at my school last year!

[Googledeservestodie]

Imagine if this guy made up all of this and his one real big con was convincing the FBI to hire him lmao

[yesterdaydream]

I remember a reddit post where he was going to speak at a college and a student picked him up from the airport pretending to be his driver 😂

[bigafroman]

He did all this stuff by the time he was 21. What am I doing? 😭

[antoniawaich]

I'm sorry but the idea that he had this amazing escape plans and got caught because a hot dog eating police man called his name on the street is hilarious 😂

[georgiarose]

Man was one of the biggest reasons why we need multiple IDs and getting a job requires multiple “interviews” (more like interrogation)🤣

[WWTormentor]

My dad would always say, “if criminals put half their knowledge to do good things, they would make this world a much better place”

[SynthD]

Dude is an absolute genius. Passed the bar with no school, just some studying. Flew planes with the mere knowledge gained from a few interviews, and even taught with now teaching. Escaped custody and even prison. Out of this world.

[lukekemp]

I feel like the quality and effort of these videos gets overshadowed by people asking for Ryan and Shane :/

[JimLippard]

This video is not accurate, it recounts Abagnale's fake story not the actual facts of his life. Buzzfeed apparently did no research--not even bothering to look at the Wikipedia page for Abagnale, which is far more accurate. Abagnale never impersonated a doctor at a hospital supervising residents, he never passed the bar exam or posed as a prosecutor. Most of the time he claims he was doing these impersonations, he was in jail. He claims he never defrauded individuals or small businesses, but he absolutely did.

[cmsully]

This guy is wild, and I'm SO glad he's real.

[Lorisa]

He ran away when he found out his parent were divorcing at Family Court. He asked for a recess and then just ran away because the judge asked him to choose what parent to live with and he could not decide.

[frayayank]

Imagine if he never actually did this and the only con he actually did in his life was write this story and convince the world this actually happened so he can make money off of books and movie rights but totally lived a normal clean life until he fooled every one of us to make us think this is a true story.

[dreadpiraterobin]

11:49 literally more hilarious than any other arrest in history.
"HEY WANTED MAN?"
"WHAT? Ohhhh you got me!"

[nail_fiend]

Why does the real Frank look like a Founding Father?

[LeadershipAlliance]

Met Frank at a party years ago. A genuinely warm and engaging man; loved his bemused detachment to the fantastic story he was the center of.

[Gantaipao]

The hell did I just hear he passed the law exam required just by studying for a few weeks.
Damn he must be damn genius for Books knowledge too.

[girl]

For a guy with one of the greatest criminal minds of all time...he actually isn't a villain. Yeah, he was greedy for money but he made sure the only one to truly get hurt was himself alone. He knew the criminal life wasn't the way to go, but it took being in prison for him to find a way out and straighten himself out. So many former criminals don't get to have the luck he's had and he's smart enough to not squander it.