Who Did What Now – "From the Vault: Frank Abagnale Jr."

Host: Katy Charlwood
Date: November 17, 2025
Theme: Exploding the Frank Abagnale Jr. Myth: The Reality Behind "Catch Me If You Can"

Overview

This episode, chosen for the host's November "cons" theme, revisits the legendary reputation of Frank Abagnale Jr., whose life famously inspired the film "Catch Me If You Can." Host Katy Charlwood turns a critical, irreverent, and deeply researched lens on the myths, movies, and the real, much less glamorous exploits of Abagnale, debunking his self-crafted legend and highlighting the actual harm he inflicted on regular people.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Pop Culture Abagnale vs. The Real One

• Film & Media Image:

  • The story most know is largely shaped by Abagnale’s autobiography and dramatization in Catch Me If You Can, with claims of teenage globetrotting, posing as a pilot, doctor, and lawyer, and evading the FBI.
  • “So there’s this movie that came out in 2007. It starred Leonardo DiCaprio as a youthful fellow, roguish, charming, just a huckster, a grifter, a schemer. He was all of these things...” — Katy Charlwood (05:28)

• The Reality:

  • Contemporary records, police documents, and the work of journalists and researchers (notably Alan C. Logan) show a much less spectacular, far more banal reality.
  • Most of Abagnale’s most famous exploits are either grossly exaggerated or fabricated.

2. Katy’s Sources and Approach

• Primary Sources:
  • Catch Me If You Can and Scam Me If You Can by Abagnale.
  • The Greatest Hoax on Earth by Alan C. Logan.
  • Contemporary coverage and FBI records.
• Charlwood’s Attitude:
  • A joyously skeptical, witty take: “The concept of the con itself, not the man. The man is not worth your time.” (05:13)

3. Frank Abagnale’s Actual Timeline

• Early Life:

  • Parents divorced when Frank was a teenager. He bounced between them.
  • First “con” was running up thousands in charges on a credit card and truck gifted reluctantly by his father.
  • “He gives him a credit card and a truck and he racks up like over $3,000 worth of a bill on it...” (13:17)

• Petty Crimes, Early Arrests:

  • Reform school attendance, mostly untrue; schools Abagnale claimed didn’t even have him on record.
  • Joined the Army briefly, then discharged.
  • Arrests for petty larceny and impersonating a police officer—with “a toy gun and a paper badge. Like, I know it’s the 60s, but that’s a bit much, right?” (15:01)

• Check Fraud and Car Theft:

  • Stole checks, cars, and impersonated several people mostly by obtaining uniforms from local shops—not via masterful forgeries.
  • Repeat arrests, always typically for very amateurish scams.

• Impersonation of a Pilot (the real story):

  • Got a pilot’s uniform by paying for it with forged checks, then promoted himself to local media as a pilot school graduate—quickly arrested.

• Serial Stalking & Abuse:

  • Displays predatory behavior, especially with flight attendant Paula Parks—persistent stalking, manipulation, and theft from her family.

Memorable quote (22:16) – On his stalking and “romantic gestures”:
“He finds out her work schedule and he stalks her. He actually stalks her...my favorite thing I ever heard her say about him was that he smelt really bad because he smelt like fear. Which I think is probably one of the worst insults you can get.” — Katy Charlwood (23:12)

4. Key Debunked Myths

Myth: Master of Disguises and Daring Escapes

• Reality:
  • Repeatedly caught; spent most of the "legend" years in jail, on probation, or on the run from basic charges—not the FBI.
  • No high-level positions held (doctor, professor, lawyer). “So the Reverend introduces him to, like, the faculty of Louisiana State University...they take one look at this boy and go, ha…no, this is bullshit.” (31:36)

Myth: Stole Millions, Outwitted the FBI

• Reality:
  • Total stolen was much lower than claimed, mostly from individuals and small businesses.
  • “He says he cashes $2.5 million and that’s like 17,000 fake checks between the ages of 16 and 24. …To cash 17,000 cheques in 14 months, he would have to cash 40 cheques per day.” (54:31)

Myth: Robin Hood Figure Who “Only Conned the Big Guys”

• Reality:
  • Almost all his thefts were from “small guys”—families who took him in, individuals he befriended, and small businesses.
  • “All he did was steal from the little guy, consistently, just over and over again.” — Katy Charlwood (52:40)

Myth: FBI Consultant/Reformed Man

• Reality:
  • No confirmed employment with the FBI; made a career out of speech gigs and "expertise" built on his own fabricated stories.

5. The Aftermath: The Legend Grows, Truth Forgotten

• Public Speaker and “Security Expert”:
  • Built a lucrative career giving talks and security advice, selling the same myths.
  • Wrote multiple books, lived off his story; benefited immensely from the Spielberg film.
• Debunking and Final Tally:
  • Investigative journalists and researchers repeatedly found no evidence for his wilder claims.
  • “When he’s doing these talks...journalists start catching on that he’s talking absolute bollocks, right?” (51:36)
• No Restitution:
  • Never compensated his victims, even after making millions in speaking and movie rights:
    “He didn’t pay back a single cent to any of the people he fucked over. Even after he made hundreds of thousands from, you know, doing his Google talks and doing his university tour and the money he made from the Catch Me if Youf Can Movie. Millions, actually...” (55:52)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the entire mythos:

  “The greatest con he ever pulled was convincing people that he was, in fact, this amazing, amazing con man.” — Podcast Narrator (12:13)

• On academic/doctor/lawyer claims:

  “He is claiming to be our furloughed pilot for TWA and being, you know, not a total idiot. And he calls the airline…they clearly and concisely tell him, no, this man does not work for us.” — Katy Charlwood (32:38)

• On why he got away for so long:

  “He gets a shorter sentence, he gets probation, he gets a slap in the rest, of course. Handsome, well spoken white boy.” — Katy Charlwood (55:26)

• On the ultimate lesson:

  “The con is that he’s a good con man, you know, or like a big con man.” — Podcast Narrator (52:52)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:09] — Introduction to the Abagnale myth
• [05:28] — Movie synopsis vs. reality
• [12:21] — “Let me tell you the real story…”
• [17:25] — Early criminal activity and methods
• [22:16] – [25:15] — Paula Parks, stalking and manipulation
• [29:08] – [31:15] — Abagnale cons the Parkes family; attempts at “going straight”
• [38:48] – [39:33] — Sexual assault under false pretenses (trigger warning)
• [44:49] – [47:27] — Post-prison jobs, repeat offenses, why his cons worked
• [48:40] – [49:49] — Start of public speaking and myth-building
• [51:36] – [54:59] — Journalists catch on, the math doesn’t add up
• [55:10] – [56:52] — No task force, no grand escapes, no restitution
• [56:52] – [57:11] — Abagnale is still alive (“He’s 75 years old at this point...”)

Tone & Style

Charlwood’s style is gleefully irreverent, direct, and informed by skepticism—a far cry from hagiographic true crime. She’s open about her “obsession with thieves and heists,” but always puts the human cost and underlying harm at the center, punctuating the debunking with acerbic humor and blunt language.

“Everything he did was fucking cunty.” (55:43)

Useful for First-Time Listeners

• The episode serves as both an entertaining debunking of one of pop culture’s biggest “con man” myths and a compact history lesson on how narratives get built, repeated, and monetized—often at the expense of the real victims.
• Katy provides enough historical and cultural context so listeners unfamiliar with either the true story or the film can follow the unraveling of Abagnale's legend, while emphasizing the importance of skepticism in history and pop culture storytelling.

Summary Recommendation:
If you want the story of Frank Abagnale Jr. as it actually happened (not as DiCaprio played it), this episode is the perfect companion. You’ll come away entertained, a bit appalled, and much, much more skeptical of any too-good-to-be-true tales of criminal genius.