A rare photograph of Frank Abagnale Jr. has reignited interest in the man whose extraordinary claims of impersonating an airline pilot inspired the bestselling memoir Catch Me If You Can and later the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
According to Abagnale’s long-told story, he posed as a Pan American World Airways pilot during the 1960s after convincing the airline to issue him a replacement uniform. He claimed to have forged FAA credentials and airline identification cards, allowing him to travel across the world using a practice known as “deadheading,” where off-duty airline crew members ride free on flights operated by other carriers.
In his memoir, Abagnale alleged that he flew on more than 250 flights across 26 countries, stayed in hotels billed to the airline, and carried out several additional fraud schemes, including impersonating a doctor and forging millions of dollars in checks across the United States. He was eventually arrested in France in 1969 before serving prison sentences in multiple countries and later being deported back to the United States.
However, recent investigations have challenged many of these famous claims. Journalist Alan C. Logan published The Greatest Hoax on Earth in 2020, citing prison records that reportedly show Abagnale was incarcerated during much of the period in which he claimed to have carried out his most well-known cons. Several major reference sources, including Britannica, have since revised their accounts, stating that Abagnale mainly impersonated a Trans World Airlines pilot for only a short period rather than a long-term Pan American World Airways impersonation.